As Told From the Heart
by Central Perk Gal
Summary: Chapter 7 FINALLY uploaded! A novel-length story retelling the events of the movie, focusing on Danny and Evelyn and their love story. My personal director's cut of Pearl Harbor, if you will. Please, please, PLEASE read and review, review, review.
1. First Love On Long Island

**Chapter One - First Love On Long Island**

_December 19, 1940 - Afternoon  
U.S. Army Inductions - New York_

As they left the dressing rooms and headed for the medical center, Danny noticed his friend's fidgety state. Rafe was repeatedly rubbing his palms together and occasionally cracking his knuckles, a definite sign that he was nervous about something. Danny put a hand on Rafe's shoulder, trying to offer some reassurance. Rafe tried to smile, but it came out as a frown, and his mind returned to worrying.

"Just calm down, Rafe," Danny said as they stepped in line to begin the lengthy and drawn-out process of being physically approved to join the United States military. "You'll do fine."

"What if I don't pass?" Rafe asked as they approached Station No. 1. "What if I lose my wings?"

"Stop talking like that," Danny scolded lightly. "Just read the chart carefully and take your time. I'll be right behind you if you need help."

Rafe nodded, but continued to fidget with his hands. Danny rolled his eyes behind Rafe's back and grinned to himself. No matter what Danny did or said to bolster his confidence, Rafe always worried about the military and flight school officials finding out about his reading problem. Not that his concern was unfounded--there were strict regulations about these situations, and Rafe faced the very real possibility of being denied entry into the armed forces, and even being dismissed from their flight school.

But he'd managed to elude discovery thus far in their two years of training, and Rafe had never been too overly concerned about it after he and Danny had been admitted. His learning disability hadn't hindered his ability or performance in the cockpit of a P-40; but then again, it had never hindered his ability to do anything. That was because neither he nor Danny ever saw it as a disability. Rafe had never let his inability to process written words or sentences hold him back from anything he set his mind to, and even on the occasional times when he let his frustrations get to him, Danny never let him give up. He was always right behind him, supporting him and keeping him motivated, while Rafe was always the one to encourage Danny and push him to achieving his best when his own confidence failed. That was just the way things worked between them, ever since they were barely big enough to see over the control panel of Rafe's father's cropduster. They had always been there for each other. They were best friends; more than best friends, actually. They were brothers, in spirit if not by blood.

... ... ...

At the other end of the room, a young officer reached the front of his line and proceeded to recite the letters on the eye chart a few feet in front of him. He finished quickly and efficiently, his eyesight clearly perfect. Evelyn Johnson smiled at him from behind her desk and stamped "APPROVED" on his file.

"Thank you, ma'am," the officer said, retrieving his file and stepping in the direction of the next station.

Evelyn took the file from the ensign behind him, who looked decidedly less confident than the last man. "Please read the bottom two lines," she said, skimming over his file.

The ensign took a deep, ragged breath and looked at the chart. "F ... uh, O ... no, D. Um, P ... L ... T ... O..."

Evelyn looked up and noticed that he was squinting. He'd almost read the second letter wrong, and that last "O" was supposed to be a "C." "Okay, just read the bottom line, please." The last line read _J L M K P O E T X_.

The man noticeably gulped. He squinted at the chart, his head leaning forward just slightly to try and get a better look without being too obvious. "Uh ... I, L ... N ... R, O ..."

"All right, thank you," the nurse said, closing his file.

"Ma'am, please," the ensign began pleadingly. "I know, my eyesight isn't all that good, but I'm a good pilot. It--it's never been a problem for me, really. Please--please don't fail me."

Evelyn saw the desperation in his eyes and she immediately felt sorry for him--she was almost tempted to pass him anyway. But regulations were regulations and she was obliged to obey them. Her hand reached for one of the two stamps on her table, selecting the one to the right and marking a bright red "REJECTION" on his file.

"I'm sorry," she said sincerely, taking in his crestfallen expression. She handed his file back to him and watched for a moment as he walked toward the back of the line, his shoulders slumped.

She turned her attention back to the line of men in front of her, all of them slightly shaken by what they had witnessed. She knew that to an earnest pilot, flying meant more than anything. They had struggled laboriously and proudly to reach their places in life, and the thought of having their wings taken away brought a shocking blow to their hearts. She knew. She had seen it happen to others. She had seen it happen to her own father.

Evelyn still remembered clearly the day six years earlier when her father was told that he would be unable to pilot an airplane again. She had arrived home to find him sitting, broken and defeated, in the armchair in the family room, looking as though the life had been sapped from his soul--and in a way, it had been. Flying was his whole life, and after his wife and two daughters, it was the most important thing he had. But his reflexes were not what they once were, nor was his eyesight, and after a couple of harrowing flights in which those hindrances became evident he was considered a liability. Evelyn never thought of her father as old, so exuberant and full of life he had always seemed to her, but at 49 he was considered over the hill as far as pilots were concerned. The authorities had no choice but to strip him of his wings. Evelyn would never forget the pain and emptiness in her father's eyes when he told her.

Shaking off the memory, Evelyn returned to the present and tried to focus her attention on giving the next few men in line their eye exams, each having extremely relieved looks on their faces when she passed them. She smiled a little to herself; apparently she'd given them quite a scare a few minutes ago. As another pilot passed and moved on, she casually observed the two young men behind him. The one in front was tall, muscular, and very handsome, with light brown hair, hazel eyes, and a strong cleft in his chin. She tried very hard not to stare--a trick she had long since perfected after sitting for hours in front of dozens upon dozens of men standing around in their underwear--but she looked anyway, noticing that he looked especially worried about something. The man behind him, a hint taller than his friend, with dark hair and eyes, and equally handsome, whispered something reassuring to him.

She cleared her throat softly, catching their attention. The man in front turned around and handed his file to her, flashing a quick and hopeful smile. She pretended not to notice. Her eyes quickly ran over his file, glancing idly at his preliminary information. Rafe McCawley, age 24. He was ranked first in his flight school. Very impressive.

As she read, she heard Lieutenant McCawley rattle off the letters on the bottom line of the eye chart--much too quickly, she thought. She didn't comment on it, but instead asked him to read the top line, which he did, though he stumbled over the letters slightly. Though intrigued and suspicious that Lieutenant McCawley supposedly could read the small print at the bottom and yet had trouble on the most legible line on the chart, she stealthily hid it.

"Read the bottom line again, please," she said to him. "But read it right to left, and every other letter."

The lieutenant hesitated for a moment, then tried to do as she said. But he read the first two letters in the sequence she'd requested backwards, then quickly corrected himself. She was sure she heard his friend muttering the letters to him, but she didn't let on that she was listening.

She began to recite the usual speech she gave before giving a rejection, but Lieutenant McCawley pleaded his case. He insisted that he had excellent eyesight, it was just that he had a problem with letters. "I just jumble them up sometimes," he told her. "I mean, I get them backwards sometimes."

She was skeptical; he could just be giving her an excuse. But then, it wasn't as though he'd stumbled over the chart as the pilot she had rejected earlier had. That pilot had mixed up certain letters for others--a clear sign of less than perfect eyesight. But Lieutenant McCawley had been reordering the sequence of letters, then stumbling over those the size of shot glasses. He definitely didn't have a problem seeing the chart; he really did just have a problem _reading_ it.

But was there really a difference, when it came right down to it? Her job was to certify whether or not these men were qualified in one of the many aspects required of their profession. This man had good eyesight, yes, but he also had some kind of reading disability. She knew that army regulations did not take any chances or make any exceptions with men proven to have one. What if their problem impeded their ability to perform their duties, and lives were risked because of it?

And Evelyn suddenly remembered her father--remembered his being told these very same things that she was thinking now.

Her mind was telling her to reach for the REJECTION stamp, but her heart was listening to his words, looking into his eyes. She saw the same earnestness there she had seen in her father's eyes. This young lieutenant truly loved to fly, and would gladly give up everything he owned before he would sacrifice his very last chance to step into an airplane. Her subconscious told her that she was going to regret it, but she pushed the thought away and stamped a bright red APPROVED on his file. Lieutenant McCawley looked stunned for a moment, shocked that she had really passed him when they both knew she shouldn't have. She averted her eyes and caught the gaze of his friend, who was looking at her in a similar look of awe and admiration.

Another nurse had approached her table just before she'd picked up the stamp. "Evelyn, rotate to Station Three," she said before disappearing into the crowd.

... ... ...

Danny stood off in a spot by himself, his physical induction complete and officially licensing him as an officer of the United States Army Air Corps. He was proud of his accomplishment; like Rafe, he loved flying more than anything in the world. There was an exhilaration with taking a plane into the air that was indescribable. To him, there was no better place to be. He knew that was the same way Rafe felt about flying, though he'd of course known that for years.

Rafe had always been the more daring and adventurous of the two--Danny's levelheadedness provided a comfortable balance to Rafe's impulsive nature, not to mention kept Rafe out of endless scrapes over the years--but he never showed it more than when he was in the air. Rafe thrived in challenging himself to pulling new stunts and maneuvers, even though it often infuriated their instructor, Jimmy Doolittle. To him, life without thrill was hardly a life at all.

Danny, on the other hand, loved to fly just as much as Rafe, but was a little more cautious about his techniques. It wasn't a question of ability, because he knew he could accomplish all the same skills Rafe could and every other move they were taught. In a plane was the one place where he felt invincible and truly confident. He just wasn't the type to show off. Rafe was the one who loved being the center of attention, though he didn't flaunt it--not usually, anyway. He just basked in it.

Danny could practically feel the tension coming from Rafe as he had stood before that nurse earlier, terrified that she would find cause to fail him in the eye exam. He had almost been as panicked as Rafe. What would he himself do if Rafe wasn't allowed back into flight school, into the military? He'd never be able to go it alone. He wouldn't feel right going on doing something they both loved when Rafe was forced to sit on the sidelines. That nurse, whose name appeared to be Evelyn, had saved them both.

Danny suddenly snapped out of his musing; he probably looked a little spaced out. He glanced at his watch, realizing that he'd been standing around for quite some time. He looked around for Rafe and noticed that his friend was nowhere to be seen. His friend and fellow pilot Red--so named because, well, his hair color was a bright, flaming red--came over to stand by him, obviously still in pain from his shot.

"How'd it go?" Red asked when he reached him.

Danny looked over at his copper-topped pal, smirking slightly as he saw Red trying to discreetly massage his backside, still sore from his earlier inoculation. "Good," he said. "It got a little hairy for a minute, but he passed, at any rate."

"That's a r-r-relief," Red replied with his typical stutter. "I'll bet he's feeling a lot better than he was this morning. He was really nervous. I don't think I've ever heard so much knuckle-cracking in my l-l-l-l--"

"Life?" Danny supplied.

"Yeah, thanks."

Danny looked around the large room again, his eyes sweeping the crowds of men until he spotted Rafe a few stations away. He was heading toward the inoculation section, Station No. 4, again. Danny's brow furrowed, wondering what his friend was up to.

... ... ...

Evelyn had switched stations with one of the nurses and she was now manning the inoculation tables. Sitting by the cart, she took out a few syringes, a small bottle of rubbing alcohol, and a fresh batch of white gauze strips. She hated having to deliberately cause these men pain, even though the vaccinations were required, but she secretly got a kick out of seeing them plead with her to spare the piercing stab of the needle into their behinds. These men might be tough on the field, but like all men, they cowered like babies when it came to a little pain.

The next young victim--ahem, ensign--into her station literally wanted to hold her hand as he received his shot. She rolled her eyes a little and obliged, knowing that arguing would only make him debate with her longer. After he left, Evelyn prepared her equipment for the next person. A few feet from her station, she heard a familiar voice talking to the man she knew was sitting in a chair just outside her cubicle. She strained to hear what they were saying, trying to place where she'd heard that voice before, because she knew she had heard that deep southern accent not particularly long ago. Evelyn turned around to see Lieutenant Rafe McCawley walking toward her, file in hand.

_January 18, 1941 - Evening  
New York City Railway_

Evelyn anxiously awaited the train to arrive at the depot, barely able to stand the anticipation for another minute. The long train ride had been made a little more bearable by casually gabbing with her girlfriends. Martha, the eldest and by far the sassiest of the bunch, had regaled them with stories of the men she'd intimidated in their inductions. Sandra, a tall girl who at 21 was the same age as Evelyn, was mostly quiet, asking occasional questions to punctuate her friends' stories. Betty--who was 19 on her official enlistment papers but really only a month shy of seventeen, a fact only her friends knew--gushed in youthful excitement about the wonderful time they were all going to have in the city that evening.

Twenty-two-year-old Barbara, as smart-mouthed as Martha but even more man-crazy than Betty, had prompted Evelyn earlier to tell them all the story of how she came to be involved with Rafe McCawley, the pilot she'd met during inductions. Evelyn tried to act coy, but she all too much loved telling her friends about her first meeting with Rafe.

She had pitied him at the eye exam, but when he came on way too strong at the inoculation table she thought him to be far too arrogant for her taste. She'd given him an extra prick with the needle in response to his presumptuous conversation. When he'd met up with her later that evening by the front steps of the nurses' building, she'd somewhat halfheartedly agreed to indulge in a glass of champagne with him, and couldn't help but chuckle as he continued to make a complete dolt of himself, following up his collapse onto the medical cart with a smack in the nose with the champagne cork. It was his constant and yet hopeless attempts to flatter and impress her that she first became attracted to, his earnestness to win her affections. And in that first kiss a few moments later, she knew that he would be so much more.

He was such a wonderful man--handsome, funny, compassionate... The past four weeks she'd spent in his company were the most romantic and heavenly of any month she'd ever experienced in her life. She couldn't wait until she saw him again that night.

The train finally arrived at the terminal, and Evelyn could hardly wait to get off. She followed her friends out of the car and onto the concourse as they approached Rafe and some men from his squadron as they walked over from their own train. Her friends conveniently slowed their steps, allowing Evelyn to make her way over to Rafe alone, his own group having the same idea. She finally reached him, her heart fluttering at just being near him again. He offered her one of two origami birds he'd made; it was such a simple yet deliriously romantic gesture that Evelyn's knees almost buckled. She more or less jumped into his embrace, laughing as he twirled her around in the air.

_14th Street Club and Hotel_

The pilots and the nurses were in love.

They were in love with big city night life. Sitting at the rakishly decorated booths, sipping wine and kicking back a few drags from cigarettes; flirting shamelessly with each other, loving the aura of mystery and intrigue that floated around in the night air; snapping their fingers and whirling about on the dance floor to the lively swing playing on the bandstand--the atmosphere practically radiated the excitement and devil-may-care outlooks of the evening's inhabitants, their carefree attitudes surrendering to a night filled with promise.

Prospects for romance were on most of their minds, at least for the men. Anthony--a smooth talker from Brooklyn--had tried, rather unsuccessfully, to warm up to Sandra with his pity-the-soldier ploy, who hadn't bought it in the slightest and hadn't bothered to let him down with a subtle kiss-off. His best buddy Billy had tried a similar line on his nurse of choice, Barbara, and even took the nerve to use Anthony's secret "crying" technique with clove oil to make himself look more vulnerable. Whether or not Barbara really fell for it, Billy never did know, nor did he really care. He'd made his conquest for the evening regardless.

Red had mustered up the courage to saunter up to Betty, his stuttering once again dominating most of his speech. He'd been sure that he'd blown any chance with her, but Betty seemed to find his nervousness endearing. He could barely contain his surprise at the smile she'd given him, a smile that meant more than anything he could have ever asked for. Red took Betty's hand in his and led her to the dance floor, all the time expecting her to change her mind and turn back for the tables. He just couldn't believe that such a beautiful girl like her would want to spend time with a stuttering klutz like him. But she didn't turn away, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and danced with him, a bright smile on her young face. And Red knew he was in heaven.

Out on the dance floor, Evelyn and Rafe swayed gently to the soft jazz playing, enjoying the feeling of being in each other's arms. Evelyn closed her eyes and rested her head on Rafe's shoulder, her arms wrapped around his neck. She opened her eyes as they turned and noticed that Rafe's friend Danny looked particularly lonely at the gang's table, though Sandra had come to sit by him a short while ago.

Evelyn wondered about Danny. He seemed like such a nice guy--that was the impression she had gotten, at any rate, when Rafe had introduced the two of them at the train station earlier in the evening. He had the same down-to-earth Southern gentility that Rafe possessed, though Danny's was a bit more reserved. Evelyn had tried to engage in conversation with him as she, Rafe and Danny had walked with the rest of their friends down the street heading for the hotel, but his mind appeared to be on other things and he could only offer some polite exchanges with her. Evelyn could tell something was troubling him and she thought about asking him about it then, but she thought better of it as she didn't want to pry. If it was any of her business, she figured Rafe would tell her about it later--she knew that Rafe and Danny talked to each other about everything.

"Danny seems a bit shy with the girls," Evelyn said to Rafe as they moved in time to the music.

Rafe looked up and noticed her gaze. "It's not that he's shy, really," he said. "He's just unsure of himself, you know. His old man used to run him down a lot..." Evelyn felt Rafe's body stiffen slightly as he spoke the last line, though she didn't comment on it. "But put him in a plane and he's sure of himself. He's like my best friend. My brother, my right hand."

Evelyn frowned slightly, then looked up at him, an eyebrow raised. "Which at the moment is a long way south of my waist." His hand _was_ decidedly farther down than was appropriate.

"Oh, sorry," Rafe said, bringing his hand back to her waist. "I guess I lost altitude."

"Yeah, I guess you did."

... ... ...

Danny sat at their booth, quietly sipping his wine. He sighed inwardly, again fiddling with the cloth napkin on the table. The party was going really well, and his friends were clearly having a lot of fun, but he didn't really feel much like getting into the spirit. Nor was he in the mood to go out onto the dance floor. Except for exchanging a few pleasantries with Sandra, he hadn't really said much to any of the women that had accompanied his group for the evening. But he really didn't care. He wasn't up to making a romantic connection tonight. His thoughts were elsewhere.

For the fourth or fifth time since they'd arrived in downtown New York, he replayed his earlier conversation with Rafe over in his mind. _"Doolittle assigned me. He wanted me to get some real combat training..."_ Danny couldn't pretend that he didn't feel a little betrayed that Rafe had gone and signed up for something like that without mentioning it to him. What had happened to brotherhood? Where had the trust and sharing gone? And to join something so dangerous ... what exactly was Rafe thinking? Those were real people fighting and dying overseas.

He supposed he couldn't be too mad at Rafe. He kind of understood his eagerness to get into the action, dangerous as it was, and Rafe was never one to pass up a golden opportunity that fell into his lap. But did he really feel he had to do it alone? Danny didn't know what he was angrier at Rafe for--making these arrangement without telling him, or for not including him on the trip. Danny meant what he had said outside the barracks as he and Rafe and the rest of the squadron prepared to board the bus for the city--it was war over there, and why go looking for it?--but if it meant standing by his best friend's side, good or bad, Danny would have gladly gone along with it. It was too late to do anything about it now, and pointless to make empty promises and predictions like that, anyway. Rafe was leaving in the morning.

Danny sighed and finished the rest of his champagne. Across the way he watched Rafe as he danced with his new girl, the nurse named Evelyn. Danny himself had only met her the one time, during the inductions a month earlier--Rafe hadn't reintroduced the two until tonight at the train station, but he had seen the way his friend had been over the last four weeks. Boy, was he really gone over her. Evelyn laughed at something Rafe said, and Danny saw that she had a really beautiful smile. He had seen it when she had stopped by the table earlier, taking a break from the lively dance number she and Rafe had just cut a rug to. "Hi, Danny," she'd said, sitting down beside him. "Aren't you going to dance?"

Danny had smiled ruefully. "Nah, I'm not really much of a dancer." Ain't that the truth. He may be an ace behind the throttle of a P-40, but the two-step was beyond his realm of comprehension and the sight of him trying to attempt it rivaled any of the slapstick antics Charlie Chaplin was capable of in his films.

"Aw, come on," Evelyn had replied. "You can't be that bad."

"Wanna bet?" Rafe said, who had arrived at the table then. "I'm gonna get us some more drinks, okay, Ev?"

"Sure," Evelyn had said, and as Rafe trotted off, she turned to Danny again. "So, how are you doing, anyway, Danny? You don't look like you're having a good time."

Danny'd shrugged. "No, I'm all right. Don't worry about me; you two go and have fun."

"Well, if you say so," she had said. "But lighten up a little, all right? The guys in your squadron are all being transferred to Pearl Harbor next week, right?"

"Yeah, we just got the orders."

"The nurses got the transfer there, too. It'll be so much fun over there--perk yourself up. Rafe won't stand for it if the two of you are there with your face looking all mopey."

"The two of us--?" Danny had started with surprise. Before he could finish, Rafe had reappeared at the table with two glasses with champagne.

"Ready to go back out there, Evelyn?" he'd said.

"Sure thing," Evelyn had answered. After Rafe had downed most of his champagne in a single gulp, he'd taken Evelyn's arm and led her back to the dance floor.

Danny watched now as Rafe whispered something to Evelyn and the two suddenly left the dance floor and made their way to the exit. As he wondered what they were up to, he thought back to what Evelyn had said just before Rafe came back to the table, and he recalled the happy, joyous looks on her face as she Rafe had danced--smiles of pure happiness that belied not a worry in the world. And Danny realized that Rafe hadn't told her yet.

_Later that Evening_

Evelyn looked up at Rafe, tears filling her eyes. She liked to think that she could go back in time and pretend they weren't really having this conversation. They would be back at the club, laughing with their friends and enjoying the evening. Rafe wouldn't tell her that he was leaving tomorrow to go to England; he wasn't volunteering to be shipped to the most dangerous place in the world right now.

They had just returned from a brief rendezvous at the New York Harbor, sharing a few passionate kisses on the cargo lift beside the _Queen Mary_. They had made their way back to the hotel, prepared to go inside and complete the night that Evelyn had been waiting for all week. It was just outside the doors of the lobby that he had made his startling revelation to her.

Evelyn's eyes welled up again and her heart swelled when she heard him utter those magical words that every girl wants to hear, that she'd been waiting to hear. "I love you," he said. "I love you so much." She smiled at him through her tears, falling into his arms and becoming enveloped in his embrace. Making their way into the hotel, they had just passed through the revolving doors when Rafe led her back outside onto the sidewalk, suddenly unable to proceed with wherever the night may have taken them.

"I don't want you to have anything about this night that you regret," he told her, pacing nervously around her. "This has been the most incredible night of my life. I don't want to ruin that."

Evelyn smiled slightly, bravely fighting back tears. "You couldn't ruin it," she assured him. "If I had one more night to live ... I'd want to spend it with you."

Rafe smiled at her. "See, that's what I want to come home to," he said, his face close to hers. "That's what I want to have to think about, and dream about. I want to know that the best part of my life is still ahead of me."

Evelyn turned to face him, trying her hardest not to pull him into her arms and hold him tight and never let go. She was a little surprised when he asked her not to see him off the next day; he couldn't bear the thought of having to say goodbye to her a second time--this was hard enough. Evelyn took her scarf from around her neck and placed it around his shoulders. With that last parting gift, she turned and walked back through the revolving doors and into the hotel, stopping just inside the lobby. She turned around and watched him through the still-swinging glass doors. He lifted his hand in farewell, the sadness evident in his face. She stared at him for a moment, her heart slowly breaking; she broke the gaze and bowed her head, slowly turning away.

_January 19, 1941 - Morning  
Train Station Departures - New York City_

The ride to the train station had been a quiet one, neither Rafe nor Danny willing to articulate the emotions going through them. Danny knew that saying goodbye was going to be hard; the comfortable silence between them, he also knew, meant that Rafe was having just as much trouble keeping himself together. The awkwardness of it all almost made Danny smile in amusement. Almost.

They stood awkwardly a few yards from the departing gate, Rafe's bags at his feet. Danny noticed that he was still furtively looking around the crowd for Evelyn, hoping that she'd decided to come see him off even though he'd asked her not to.

"Listen," Rafe said, "if anything happens to me, I want you to be the one to tell her."

Danny almost lost it then, but managed a small, brave smile. "Just make sure to come back for the both of us, all right?"

Rafe then grabbed Danny and wrapped him in a warm hug, patting him on the back. He gathered his bags and made his way over to the gate. "See you when I get back," Rafe said over his shoulder.

Danny nodded as Rafe turned and waved goodbye to his friend a last time, then disappeared around the corner. Danny stood by himself, his hands in his coat pockets and his heart somewhere in the vicinity of his feet, watching his oldest and closest friend walk away and head straight toward danger and adventure on a first-class ticket. "Good hunting, Rafe," he said quietly to himself.

He turned around to leave, pushing his way through the revolving doors at the far left of the front of the train station, feeling the stinging cold of the New York winter. Danny did not see Evelyn running up the sidewalk a few yards away, and he did not see her rush through the revolving doors on the far right. Evelyn raced to the counter, slightly out of breath as she asked the uniformed man if the train she knew Rafe was taking had left yet. The man pointed to the track outside, the train getting ready to depart.

She ran outside just as the train whistle blew, the steam blasting full force. She searched the tracks and walkway, but saw no sign of Rafe. Evelyn placed her gloved hands over her mouth, fighting back tears as the train began to pull away. She was too late, she realized with a heavy heart. The train rounded the corner and disappeared in the morning mist.

... ... ...

_Coming up next weekend-- Chapter 2: Aloha, Hawaii.  
_


	2. Aloha, Hawaii

**Chapter Two - Aloha, Hawaii**

_February 11, 1941 - Afternoon  
Pilots' Barracks - Pearl Harbor, Hawaii_

Danny emptied one of his bags onto his bunk and began sorting through his clothes, separating what to put in the small closet space each man was allowed from the clothes he could put into drawers. Billy, on the other hand, was simply tossing all of his clothes into a set of drawers, not bothering to separate or fold them.

It had been three weeks since Rafe had left to join the Eagle Squadron in England, and Danny had never felt lonelier in his life. Rafe and Danny had never spent more than a day apart since they had known each other, and Danny hadn't realized how big a part of his life their friendship was until now. He virtually had no one to hang out with, no one to confide in, no one to just be around and feel like he was at home.

Of course, his army buddies had done their best to keep his spirits up. On the long ride to the West Coast of the mainland, Billy and Anthony had kept him cracking up with their hilarious stories of their teenage years. On the ship that took them from San Francisco to Oahu, they had all made it their mission to rag on Red as he obsessed over his separation from Betty, the young nurse with whom he'd spent all of two days in New York.

Now that they were finally at the military base in Pearl Harbor, which was to be their station indefinitely, Danny tried to keep up a more positive outlook. He was determined not to let Rafe's departure scar him completely--this was Hawaii, for crying out loud. Danny looked up and saw Red holding up a rather loud tropical shirt for the others to scoff at. It looked as though his friends weren't having any trouble getting excited about being here. It was, after all, paradise.

Billy finally finished shoving his clothes haphazardly into his dresser and tried to shut it, though the bulging drawer refused to go all the way in. He gave a few more attempts at rearranging the contents, but it completely obstructed the drawer's ability to close. Throwing up his hands, he left the drawer the way it was and flopped down onto his bunk. "So, what's the plan for tonight?" he asked his pals.

"The plan for what?" Anthony asked, just coming in from outside of the bunkroom.

"Come on, fellas, we are in paradise!" Billy insisted, hopping up onto his bunk to address the group. "We should be living it up. Didn't you see the bars and pubs we passed on the way over here? Not to mention the untapped collection of ladies all over this island, who'd love to get close to a man in a spiffy uniform..." He held out his arms toward his friends expectantly, but was met with amused stares.

"Be serious, Billy," Danny said, placing a neatly-folded button-down shirt in his drawer. "May I remind you that we are officers of the U.S. Army. We already have a purpose here, remember?"

"Now, not so fast, Danny," Anthony interjected. "Our pal William here may have a point. There's nothing in our job description that says we can't mix in a little fun with our work."

Danny shook his head, smiling, as his friends proceeded to discuss their plans for the evening. They had only been at Pearl Harbor for a few hours, but it was already beginning to feel like home. Aside from the picture-perfect atmosphere and seemingly endless expanse of beaches, the locals seemed like a friendly bunch, as well. After a short briefing from the stationed commandants and a quick introduction to a few of the local "pilots"--including Gooz, a nice guy who seemed to be more interested in his new surfboard accessory than in airplane maintenance; Gooz's pal Joe, who was clearly tired of hearing about Gooz's surfboard plans; and Earl, a sort of rough-and-tumble guy who worked mainly as a mechanic--they had been sent to their barracks to get settled in to their new lodgings. Since it was just their first day here, and it was well into the afternoon by Hawaii time, they were free to spend the rest of the day as they pleased. And his friends did make a good point. Why shouldn't he go out and have a good time?

_Nurses' Quarters - Pearl Harbor_

Evelyn stood on the porch of her new temporary home, surveying the view in front of her. The other nurses were inside, arguing good-naturedly but without much progress about how they were going decorate the still rather plain dwelling. They had arrived at Pearl Harbor earlier in the day, greeted by an overeager welcome wagon of sailors aboard the navy ship the girls' barge had passed. Evelyn had tried to be as excited as the other nurses were about being here, but her efforts were in vain. She hadn't been particularly excited about anything in the past three weeks. She missed Rafe desperately, and she could barely concentrate on anything else.

Evelyn sighed, leaning against the railing and looking over the harbor in the distance. It was strange, and yet so frustrating, to be so far from Rafe and at the same time feel as if he were still close by. Thousands of miles away, he was never too far from her heart. This must be what true love feels like, she thought, smiling wistfully.

Lost in her thoughts, Evelyn didn't notice as Betty opened the screen door and approached her from behind. "What are you doing, Ev?" Betty said, startling Evelyn out of her reverie.

"Oh, just thinking," Evelyn said, smiling at her friend and roommate.

"About Rafe?" Betty teased, nudging her gently with her elbow and flashing a knowing smile.

"Yes, about Rafe," Evelyn replied.

"You really miss him, don't you?" Betty said, idly tapping her foot against the wooden support rail.

Evelyn smiled a little, remembering how happy she had been the night before Rafe had left, how content she'd been in just being with him. "Yeah, I do," she said. "It's been awful not having him be able to get in touch with me for the past few weeks."

"Well, he'll be able to start writing you in a while," Betty reassured her, "once everything gets settled down here. He couldn't very well send you letters while you were on a train going across the country, could he?"

"Of course not, silly. I just miss it--him--everything."

Betty nodded. She was young--she couldn't say she understood just how Evelyn felt--but she knew more than anyone of the disappointment and pain that ensued when someone you cared about left. Of course, neither Evelyn nor any of the nurses knew about that.

"So," Evelyn said, forcing herself to brighten up a bit. "How's it going in there?"

"Oh, it's more or less coming along," Betty said, biting her lip to keep from laughing.

"Barbara and Martha are still having at it?" Evelyn guessed.

"Yeah. Those two are so stubborn. It'll be hours before they get to agreeing on anything--if that'll ever even happen."

Evelyn rolled her eyes. "Most likely not." She glanced at her watch, which she'd switched to Hawaii's standard time just a few minutes ago. "Wow, it's only four o'clock. What are we going to do for the rest of the day?"

"I know exactly what we're going to do," Betty said, a devilish grin on her face. "Didn't you see all those sailors waving at us when we got here? I say we head on over to one of those clubs or bars or whatever and have a little fun!"

Evelyn smiled and shook her head. Betty really did have a one-track mind; men were never far from her thoughts. She wished she could have that kind of youthful energy. Betty turned and went back inside as they heard more heated arguing from Barbara and Martha, Sandra trying vainly to reason with both of them. Evelyn was left alone. She sighed, turning her attention to a pair of birds that circled down from a tree in the yard. Alone.

_February 14, 1941 - Afternoon  
Military Base - Pearl Harbor_

Drill Sergeant Murphy was a no-nonsense type of fellow. If he had had any sense of humor at all, it was clear he'd had it surgically removed early in life. As such, he had no patience for goof-offs, jokesters and the like. And every time a new batch of recruits arrived at the base, he found that there were at least a half dozen in the bunch that needed to be whipped into shape. This latest group was no exception.

He had pegged immediately that Thompson and Fusco would need some extra attention--his own special brand of attention that tended to make even the roughest and toughest of pilots cry. Those two hadn't stopped chattering and goofing around since he'd begun running their drill practices the day before. The other pal with them, Winkle, the one everyone seemed to call Red, wasn't much better. He was one of the clumsiest recruits he had ever had the misfortune of leading. But at least the three of them knew their way around a plane, he grudgingly admitted.

It looked like Walker was the only one taking his duties seriously. At least, he was the only one who had the decency to actually look like he was paying attention to him when he was running practice, and did the field exercises without rolling his eyes first or making a snotty remark under his breath and thinking that he, Murphy, couldn't hear it. Murphy thought for a moment about approaching Lieutenant Walker about running a few drill practices with him, get some leadership experience over the recruits. Nah. Murphy liked to do his yelling at people on his own.

Danny wouldn't have accepted the offer anyway. Not that he didn't sympathize with Murphy's frustrations. Danny fought the urge to roll his eyes--which he often did around his friends--as Billy and Anthony continued to argue over whose barrel-roll technique was more favorable. They'd been debating this for months. He shook his head ruefully as he followed them across the tarmac back to the barracks, drill practice finally over for the day.

As much as he liked his friends, even when they annoyed him as much as they were now, he still missed his best friend more than he ever would have thought. He really didn't have anyone to talk to, and the loneliness was getting to him.

Red caught up with him just then--he always seemed to be lagging at least ten feet behind. "Hey, you want to come with us to the Hula-la tonight?"

Danny glanced over at him. "Red, we just went there for dinner last night."

"I know." Red smirked at him. "But I like it over there. They got good food."

"Hmmm," Danny said, unconvinced. "Betty's going to be there tonight, isn't she?"

"Well … maybe." Red always seemed to blush whenever anyone mentioned Betty's name. The thought amused Danny.

"Red, why don't you just ask her for a date?" Danny said. "I think she likes you; she'll say yes. Besides," Danny continued, shooting him a knowing glance, "isn't today Valentine's Day?"

"Is it? I plum forgot!" Red feigned surprise.

Danny laughed. "Come on, Red, just ask her."

"Oh, I--I don't know. We just met. You don't know she'll say yes." Red paused. "Do you think she'd say yes?"

Danny gave him a good-natured smack on the shoulder. "Just … ask … her."

Red stopped in his tracks as he mulled over the idea, as Danny followed the rest of the guys up the steps to the barracks. Danny was just at the door before he noticed that Red was still standing in the middle of the sidewalk, staring at nothing. Danny shook his head, smiling, as he continued on into the building. Red really had it bad for this Betty. Danny was happy for his friend. It was great that he had someone in mind, someone who he was obviously crazy about and who seemed to be just as interested in him. Danny hated to admit it to himself, but he kind of wished he had the same thing for himself. It was awfully lonely being alone.

He decided then that he _would _join his friends at the Hula-la that night for the Valentine's Day festivities. How could he be alone when he had his friends?

_Hula-la Bar - Pearl Harbor_

Danny sat down by himself at a small table by the bar, absentmindedly stirring the straw in his Mai-Tai. So much for not being alone. His friends had practically abandoned him at their table from the moment they'd arrived, off to the bar to saunter up to the few young ladies who were in attendance. Not that Danny minded all that much. He kind of relished the quiet time. Not that there was much quiet time at the Hula-la.

The Hula-la Bar wasn't much different from any of the other bars he and his fellow pilots had frequented on their nights off during training in New York, with the obvious exception of the bamboo- and straw-woven furniture, palm fronds scattered every which way and the lilting strains of Hawaiian music coming from the phonograph. The bar wasn't the least bit busy tonight; most of the sailors, pilots, and naval crewmen had taken their girlfriends--or enticed some poor unsuspecting gal whom they'd picked up in town--out for the evening. The Hula-la wasn't exactly a place for couples. Today being Valentine's Day, it was practically empty.

Danny wasn't the only man on the island without a date for the evening; there were a few sad, cynical souls in the bar. Fortunately, all of his buddies happened to be free that night, also, and were trying to make the most of the evening without women. So far they were pretending to be successful.

Anthony came over and grabbed a seat across from Danny. "This must be the most depressing night of my life," he said, signaling for a waitress. "I can't believe it's Valentine's Day, and I don't have a date. I do not have a date."

Danny took a long sip from his drink and waited. He knew Anthony was just getting started.

"I mean, it's like a parallel universe or something," Anthony continued. "It's unprecedented. I'm actually scared, Walker--if something like this could happen, there's no telling what this world is capable of."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Well, at least you're handling it well."

Anthony nodded in agreement. "That's one thing you can say about me--I never take anything too seriously."

"Uh-huh."

Red and Billy were on the other end of the room, trying to coax a few sailors into a game of poker. The two had learned some new tricks from some of the other guys in the barracks and were dying to sucker someone out of a few bucks. Several officers were trying to flirt with the waitresses, who hardly paid them any attention. The atmosphere was light-hearted and jovial, and everyone was having a good time, but Danny wished he'd just stayed home.

... ... ...

You could say this for Betty's one-track mind about men--she always knows the boys are. After some sleuthing and prying from the more senior nurses, she had quickly deduced that the majority of the sailors and soldiers spent their free nights at the Hula-la Bar--so it naturally stood to reason that she and the rest of the girls make a beeline to the bar to make their grand entrance right away, and what better time for said grand entrance than on Valentine's Day?

"Do you think Red will be here?" Betty asked Evelyn as the two walked a few steps ahead of their friends as they made their way down the path to the bar.

"Probably," Evelyn replied, surveying the scene ahead of them. The bar was usually packed to overflowing this time of the evening, but tonight it was barely half-full. She figured most people were out celebrating the holiday with their sweethearts. The thought made Evelyn's heart ache.

The girls had practically shoved her out the door earlier when she had initially turned down their invitation to join them for a night on the town. She didn't really want to go out--it was Valentine's Day, and when she should have been her happiest she couldn't remember feeling any lower in her life. She finally had a wonderful, absolutely adoring man to love, and here she was on February 14th all by herself while her love was on the other side of the planet.

But in the end, she agreed with her friends that life must go on in some form or another. Sitting around missing Rafe wasn't going to make the time go by any faster, and so she'd twisted her hair in a loose French braid, put on her new blue dress and her best fake happy face, and accompanied her friends as planned. Much to her surprise, as she and the girls pranced the streets of Oahu on the way to the bar, she found her mood perking up considerably. It was hard to stay in a sour mood in a paradise like this. She had been able to get into a somewhat energetic mood for the first time in weeks, and she thought that was quite an achievement.

"So what do you think the odds are I'll get lucky tonight, huh?" Martha questioned the group.

"What are the odds that the Earth will fall out of orbit?" Barbara countered.

"Ooh, good one. You're just jealous 'cause you haven't had a man in months," Martha retorted.

"Excuse me," Barbara said indignantly. "May I remind you that a certain soldier and I got very friendly back in New York."

"Ah, yes, the famous Billy," Betty chimed in. "So what exactly is going on between the two of you? You haven't talked about him since, you know ... the morning after ... you know ... And then you had plenty to talk about."

Evelyn finally decided to speak up. "Barbara, why are you talking about things like that with Betty? First of all, it really shouldn't be anybody's business but your own. And second, she's just a kid."

"I am not a kid--" Betty began.

"So, what's the big deal?" Barbara said over her. "It's not like it's anything she hasn't heard before. And in answer to your question, Betty, I'm just keeping the poor boy at bay. You know, making him sweat a little. I'll reel him in when I'm good and ready."

"Which will be...?" Martha prompted.

"The next time I see him," Barbara laughed.

Evelyn laughed along with the rest of the girls at Barbara's impudence. Sandra nudged her gently in the ribs, nodding back at their friends. Evelyn smiled in agreement--the girls really were like a gaggle of geese sometimes.

The girls arrived at their destination, the Hula-la, and were immediately greeted by the admiring stares and coaxing smiles of the men inside. Evelyn recognized several of Rafe's friends off in one corner of the bar. Barbara sauntered over to Billy, pretending to be surprised to find him there. Anthony noticed their entrance and tried to push Red in their direction, seeing how he was staring after Betty, but Betty met him halfway near the far side of the room. Betty smiled encouragingly at him; his cheeks turned almost as red as his hair.

Martha dragged Evelyn and Sandra over to the bar in the middle, flopping down onto one of the stools and flagging down the bartender. Evelyn tried to ignore the ogling eyes of the waiters as they passed by; Martha wasn't nearly as discreet, giving them all her most flirtatious smile.

The bartender returned with their drinks. Evelyn took a sip from her glass then set it back down on the counter with a small sigh. Hawaii was a lot different that she'd expected. Oh, sure, the warm weather and picturesque beaches and tall palm trees were just as she'd imagined, but life wasn't the way she'd thought it would be. America wasn't involved in the war yet, and there was no real indication of when and if it ever would be. The hospital where she and her friends spent their mornings and afternoons was large and fully equipped, but there was very little for them to do. There were almost no patients for them to attend to, and the occasional few that came in had problems like sunburns and cuts that required minor stitches. But she was a dedicated nurse, and she loved her job regardless of the absence of actual people to take care of.

Not that Evelyn was hoping for more patients to come in with serious conditions. She just wished she had more to do; with hardly any work to do her mind too often wandered to thoughts of Rafe, and worrying about his safety in England, and the painful longing for him to be here with her. She didn't know how she was going to survive on writing letters back and forth until Rafe came home, particularly since there was no telling when he would be back.

Sandra noticed her melancholy. "How are you doing, Ev?" she asked in her typically soft voice.

Evelyn turned to her and offered a small smile. "I'm okay," she said, hoping she sounded like she meant it. She really felt lonelier than she'd ever felt in her life. "I guess I'm just not in the mood to party." Sandra smiled in understanding and gently squeezed her arm in support.

Evelyn heard Sandra mutter "Oh, no" under her breath, and turned to see Anthony sauntering in their direction. "Hey, sweetheart," he said to Sandra. Sandra rolled her eyes and half-heartedly said hi.

Tuning out their conversation, Evelyn's eyes swept over the crowd, taking in all the jubilant moods of the men and women in the Hula-la. She saw Betty at the other end of the room talking with Red, the happy expressions on their faces indicating that their encounter was going well. A few feet away from them she noticed Danny sitting at a table by himself. He looked as depressed as she felt. For the first time Evelyn realized that Rafe's best friend probably missed him even more than she did. Figuring they could at least be depressed together for the evening, Evelyn was about to walk over to him to say hello and chat for a bit when he suddenly got up and made his way toward the door.

Evelyn sighed as he disappeared into the night. She couldn't blame him for wanting to leave. This was definitely the place to be if you wanted to hang out and party; clearly neither of them were in the mood for it, though. She wondered suddenly why a guy like Danny was apparently alone on Valentine's Day. Evelyn really didn't know Danny very well, but from what she had observed and from what Rafe had told her, any girl would be crazy to pass up the chance to be with a great guy like him. She smiled thoughtfully, hoping that one day Danny would find that special girl, one whom he could call his soul mate; she knew she had found hers in Rafe.

... ... ...

Danny had finished his second Mai-Tai and was tempted to order another. A heavy dose of alcohol might have helped to make him feel better for a little while, but then he'd just be stuck with a hangover. Figuring that he'd rather be just miserable instead of miserable and sick, he decided to forego a third drink and just go home. Getting up from his table, he stopped to tell Billy--who was still deep in conversation with Barbara--that he'd be going back to the barracks, and then walked out of the bar.

He was about halfway back to the base when he realized that although he didn't want to be around the crowd tonight, he didn't want to sit around the large barracks room by himself, either. He took a detour and started in the direction of the beach.

"What a night," he muttered to himself as he walked along. Then he began to chastise himself for his bitter attitude. Sure, he was lonely, but there were certainly others who were a lot more worse off than he was.

Like Rafe's girl, Evelyn. She had to be feeling even more low than him about Rafe being gone; after all, it was Valentine's Day. Rafe should be here with her, being romantic and behaving like lovebirds do, or whatever it was they were doing back in New York. But instead Evelyn was all alone.

Danny had noticed her come into the bar with a group of her friends. That was partly why he left. He'd had a feeling she was going to come over to talk to him; he'd gotten up and left before she could have a chance. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk to her. She seemed a perfectly nice enough girl. But she reminded him too much of Rafe, and that made him feel more depressed. Besides, she was undoubtedly going to ask after him, and Danny didn't feel like talking about Rafe when he was still so pissed at him.

Danny stopped at a bluff overlooking the ocean, settling down at a pile of rocks by the side of the path. The night air was unusually brisk and cool, giving an uncharacteristic chill to the island. Danny leaned against one of the larger rocks, his hands in his pockets, as he looked out over the water. He had only been out to look at the ocean at night once, the night after they had first arrived in Hawaii, but there was something oddly familiar about the way the water looked this time, something almost haunting about the way the moon's reflection played on the surface. The effect was almost tranquil, and Danny couldn't help but feel somewhat calmed by it.

A small stirring noise in the bushes a few feet away shook Danny out of his trance, and he turned to see a squirrel scurry across the grass in front of him. He looked back toward the water and thought back over the last few days since coming to the island. So far there hadn't been much to do; they were still in the process of getting organized into their routines. He hadn't been sure what to expect when he'd first learned that he and his squadron were being transferred to the military base here, but he hadn't dwelled on it too much; he'd been happy just to get transferred anywhere. Like Rafe, Danny hadn't done much traveling before they had joined the army. He had been more than eager to dust off his small-town Tennessee roots, at least for a little while, and get out in the world and see what it had to offer.

Danny sighed and scuffed the sand with the toe of his shoe. Seeing what the world had to offer. He supposed that might have been part of what had influenced Rafe to accept his assignment to England. Rafe was really more adventurous than he was, anyway; Danny couldn't blame him for that. But what he didn't understand was why Rafe had apparently been set on keeping the whole thing from Danny up until the night before he left. They'd never kept secrets from each other in all the years they had been friends--which, as far as Danny could remember, was practically since they'd been born. No matter how hard Danny tried to rationalize Rafe's decisions, nothing he could think of made him feel better about the whole situation. He couldn't figure out Rafe's eagerness to rush headfirst into danger in his thirst to be a combat pilot, a hero. Didn't he understand that there was a real war going on over there, where real people fought and...died? People thought coming out as the victor in battle made them winners. There were no winners.

The moon was now high in the sky, prompting Danny to check his watch. It was well after eleven o'clock; he'd been standing here for over an hour, much longer than he'd planned to. Their curfew was extended, since it was a weekend, so he wasn't worried about turning up at the barracks past lockdown, but he didn't want to stay out too late. Besides, some of his friends might worry if he wasn't back long after he'd said he would. Danny smiled wryly. Then again, judging from the way that party had been going, they probably wouldn't make it back to the barracks themselves until the wee hours of the morning, hung over and happy.

_Pilots' Barracks - Pearl Harbor_

Danny arrived back to the barracks in less than ten minutes, and as he'd suspected, none of his friends had come home yet. In fact, there was almost no one there at all but a couple of fellows Danny didn't know very well, only that they'd been transferred to Pearl Harbor from a training post somewhere in Massachusetts. Exhausted, he quickly changed into his sleeping clothes and settled down onto his bunk. Naturally, he suddenly wasn't tired anymore, and found himself staring up at the ceiling for a few minutes, until someone emerged from the latrines in the next room. Danny turned to see Red come into the room, having just showered and changed himself.

"Hey," Danny called to his friend.

Red turned in surprise to see Danny a few yards away. "Oh, hi, when did you get back?"

"Just a minute or so ago," Danny said, sitting up. "What are you doing here? I thought the party wouldn't be over until you guys got thrown out or something."

"Yeah, well," Red said, chuckling, as he sat down on a bunk near Danny. "That's still likely to happen. The rest of the guys are still over there, having too much fun and annoying the bartender."

"And all the excitement was just too much for you, huh?" Danny joked.

"Nah, I was pretty tired," Red said. "Besides, I've got to get up early tomorrow, anyway. I've got some work I need to get done, and I want to finish it before eleven. I'm taking Betty out to b-b-brunch." Red's ears began to darken when he said her name. Danny noticed but pretended not to. "We'll probably go to that little diner by the beach. That should be g-g-good, don't you think?"

"Sure, that should be fine," Danny said, smiling at Red's nervousness.

Red caught Danny's smirk and frowned slightly. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing," Danny said. "It's just that I don't think I've ever seen anyone so worked up about a girl before, that's all."

"What are you talking about?" Red asked. "Haven't you been in the same boat a dozen times already?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "I don't know about a dozen."

"Well, you know what I'm talking about." Leaving it at that, Red went back to his bunk to get ready to turn in.

Guessing that was the end of their conversation, Danny switched off the lamp beside him and flopped back down on his bunk. He was just starting to doze off when something Red had said popped back into his mind. _Haven't you been in the same boat?_ Danny thought back on that sentence. Had he ever been in that boat at all? The question was beginning to plague him.

Red's comment was said in an offhand manner, but what he had really been asking was if Danny had ever really been absolutely crazy about a girl before. The truth was, he hadn't. He'd had girlfriends before, back in Tennessee before he and Rafe had enlisted in the Army and he'd had the time for such excursions. But he was sure he'd never been in love with any of them. Even after he and Rafe had left home for flight school, and the rest of their buddies spent most of their off-time discussing the local girls and all the different ways to scheme their way into their hearts, not to mention into their skirts, Danny had only been half-interested. Love and romance had never seemed that important to him, he supposed , at least not so much to go out of his way to look for it. He'd always thought that if and when the right girl came along, everything would come naturally, that it would all just fall into place. But he wondered now if he would ever find such a girl.

The thought gnawed at him.

... ... ...

_Next up-- Chapter 3: Unexpected Friendships.  
_

_I'm still dying for some more feedback, not to mention some hint as to the interest in my Yahoo Group stories. Let me hear from ya!  
_


	3. Unexpected Friendships

**Chapter Three - Unexpected Friendships**

_April 15, 1941 - Evening  
Base Hospital - Pearl Harbor_

It was relatively hot for so late in the day--it was barely after six o'clock--and Evelyn was glad she and Barbara were in the hospital doing inventory on supplies. It wasn't the most exciting job, but at least it was cool in there.

Over the past few weeks Evelyn and her friends had learned the ropes of running the hospital and were pretty confident in their jobs. But since they had very few patients, the main skill they'd perfected since coming to Pearl Harbor was management rather than medical care. They were professionals when it came to keeping the hospital orderly and running smoothly. Some of the nurses thought they were wasting their time spending so many hours cooped up in the hospital when there were never more than three or four patients in at a time, but Evelyn loved the atmosphere there. Her supervisors commented on her conscientiousness, noting that she always had the materials properly arranged and accounted for, and the patients were always comfortable. Evelyn thanked them for the praise, but she had never gotten caught up in gaining the high approval of others. It was whether or not she herself was satisfied with the work she was doing that mattered the most to her.

"Okay, so we've got all the suturing materials taken of, right?" Barbara said, checking her clipboard.

"Yeah," Evelyn replied, setting a box back in the cabinet.

"All right, then!" Barbara tossed the clipboard onto the desk. "We're done. Let's go!"

Evelyn smiled at her friend's eagerness to sign out for the day. "Ease up, girl. Give me a chance to put everything away first."

"Oh, it's neat enough. Besides, one of the other girls can do it," Barbara said, grabbing Evelyn's hand and dragging her towards the door. "Come on, I'm starving."

Evelyn shook her head, giving up. She hung up her nurse's hat on the hook on the wall, quickly popped her head in the doorway to the next corridor to bid a quick goodbye to Sandra and Betty, who were attending to a couple of patients, and followed Barbara to the exit.

"Why are we in such a hurry to eat dinner?" Evelyn asked when Barbara finally released her arm and slowed down a bit.

"Because," Barbara said emphatically, "I happen to know that Billy and the rest of the guys are going to be at the Pacific Isles Cafe, and I'm dying to get over there and give him a piece of my mind."

"Why?" Evelyn asked. "What did he do this time?"

"You know, he hasn't called me in over a week since the last time we went out," Barbara declared, stopping to put her hands on her hips and glare at Evelyn, as though she were the one who had upset her. "Can you believe that? A week! So I'm gonna rush over there and tell him that I wouldn't date him again even if he begged."

"Oh, okay," Evelyn said, rolling her eyes when Barbara began walking again. Evelyn couldn't even begin to count the number of times Barbara had threatened to break up with a guy but never actually did it.

"Hey, come on!" Barbara called back to her when Evelyn didn't continue to follow her.

"I think I'm gonna go back to the house to change and freshen up first," Evelyn said. "I'll meet you there in about a half hour, all right?"

"Oh, what's the difference?" Barbara asked. "They've all seen us in our uniforms before."

"I'll see you in a while!" Evelyn called behind her as she made her way toward the nurses' barracks. Barbara shrugged her shoulders and continued on to the cafe.

Twenty minutes later Evelyn was in the small room she shared with Betty, showered and changed into a casual dress, the subtle tropical-print showing off the influence of the Hawaiian culture and the slinky design showing off her deepening tan. She stood in front of the vanity brushing her hair when in the corner of her eye she saw a white envelope sitting atop her bed pillows. Her heart skipped a few beats when she recognized the familiar writing on the front. It was a letter from Rafe.

Evelyn sat down on her bed and tore open the envelope, eager to find out what her love was up to in England, eager to read the affectionate words that seemed to leap out from the page and warm her heart. She skimmed the letter quickly, then went back and pored over every word. She had just finished when a soft knock at the door interrupted her.

"Come in," Evelyn said, looking up to see Sandra poke her head through the door. "Hi. When did you get home?"

"Just now," Sandra said. "I just left the hospital a few minutes ago. What are you doing?"

"Reading a letter from Rafe," Evelyn explained, holding up the papers. "It's so great to hear from him. We write each other all the time, but with the way the mail works overseas it takes so long for them to get here."

"Aw, but it's worth the wait, isn't it?" Sandra said, smiling.

"Yeah." Evelyn looked down at Rafe's letter, wishing she could actually see him in the ink-scrawled words in front of her. She missed him so much, but writing to each other constantly made the separation a bit easier for the both of them.

"Well, I am exhausted," Sandra continued. "I think I'm just gonna hang around for a while and take a nap. What are you up to?"

"I'm meeting Barbara for dinner at the Pacific Isles," Evelyn replied. "I should actually get going about now."

"All right, then, I'll see you later."

"Okay," Evelyn said as Sandra retreated into the next room. She turned back to Rafe's letter, gently running her finger over the paper. For now, letters were the only tangible connection she had to Rafe, and she cherished it dearly. Sometimes she would go down to the beach, watching the surf crash against the shore and the setting sun disappear into the horizon. That was when she would write most of her letters to Rafe; she liked to think that she could capture that last little bit of sunlight from the golden sky and send it to him from her heart. She laughed a little to herself. She sounded like one of those empty-headed girls in the romance novels she'd read, who practically swooned when they saw the men that struck their fancy. Evelyn used to think those people were just so far-fetched and exaggerated that they couldn't possibly exist in real life--that's what made it fiction. But then, she'd only read those books because she hadn't known love in her own life; she'd never understood those types of feelings until now.

Evelyn sighed, carefully folding the letter back into the envelope and placing it in her bedside drawer, where she'd meticulously kept all of Rafe's letters to her. Usually when she finished reading one of Rafe's letters she felt terribly empty inside, and it was hard for her just to get up and keep going. But she'd become stronger over the last few weeks since she'd been at Pearl Harbor. Being apart from him wasn't the end of the world; she knew that with each day they grew closer to the time when they could be together again, and she looked forward to that day more than anything. There was no need to live her life in mourning as if that day would never come. Hadn't her mother always taught her to enjoy life and her youth as much as she could? That's exactly what she was going to do.

Nodding her head to remind herself of that resolve, Evelyn got up and gathered her things to join Barbara downtown.

_Pacific Isles Cafe - Pearl Harbor_

Red and Anthony were forced to stay at the base and finish up some tests on a P-40 that had been experiencing engine malfunctions, so it was just Billy, Gooz, and Danny at the Cafe that night for dinner. The diner was much like the other restaurants and pubs in Pearl Harbor--casual, upbeat, with a generally lighthearted atmosphere. The patrons were all enjoying their meals and the company they were with. It seemed that there were nothing but happy, easygoing times on this island. The thought of the brutal war taking place on the other side of the world was furthest from everyone's minds, despite the fact that Pearl Harbor was a U.S. naval base in the process of preparing the nation for its inevitable entrance into that war. But that didn't seem to affect anyone; it was still a party here.

Billy and Gooz sat on one seat of their booth at the far corner of the crowded restaurant; Danny was in the opposite seat facing them. They had just ordered their meals a few minutes ago, and judging from the hectic state of the cafe at what was apparently its busiest time, it would be a while before their meals were brought to their table. The Pacific Isles Cafe was one of the more popular restaurants in this part of Oahu, mainly because it was one of the few that did not seem to be dominated by the military men stationed here. It attracted all kinds of patrons, servicemen and civilians alike.

Gooz was telling the guys for the tenth time his idea for a new type of surfboard that he believed was going to make him "a rich fella," but Billy wasn't really listening. Actually, he hadn't really listened the last nine times he'd heard the story, either. He nodded along to Gooz's words, saying an occasional "Uh-huh" and "Yeah" as he stared out the window blankly, silently praying that their food would be ready and brought over any minute so Gooz would eat instead of talk. Gooz was an all-around nice guy, and genuinely friendly, but he tended to be a little odd and annoying at times.

Sighing, Billy brought his attention back to his companions. He noticed that he wasn't the only one who was pretending to listen to Gooz. Danny was clearly not paying much attention, either. Despite the bored expression on his face that he knew mirrored his own, Billy was pleased to see that Danny at least looked a lot happier than he had in the first few weeks on the island. He'd been absolutely miserable when Rafe left to fly with the RAFs in England, and his usually cheerful disposition had faded into melancholy. He understood his despondency, though. He knew how close Danny and Rafe were, how steadfast their friendship was; Billy didn't think he'd ever seen actual brothers who had a stronger bond than those two, who weren't even blood related.

The rest of the guys in the squadron had tried tirelessly to bring Danny out of his funk, but nothing seemed to work. He would remain stoic and silent for days at a time, refusing to have fun, doing nothing but staying in the bunkroom staring up at the ceiling, or sitting by one of the large windows and staring out at the field. He seemed determined to stay under the storm cloud that had settled over him, but as time drew on he slowly came out from under it, Billy observed. There had been something about Rafe's decision to join the fight in Britain that had been bothering Danny before, but whatever it was, he seemed to have gotten past it. Slowly but surely he was returning to his old self. Billy was thankful for that. Danny was a good friend to him, too, and he'd hated seeing him depressed for so long. Besides, it was always fun to have one more person in the group to go partying with. The more the merrier, that was Billy's philosophy when it came to nights out on the town.

A hard tapping at the window beside Billy made him jump, snapping him out of his reverie. He turned his head and saw Barbara standing outside the diner, smiling and fluttering her fingers at him. Billy immediately perked up, smiling back at her and waving for her to come inside and join him. She was definitely something special. That night in New York, he had expected to have just one wild night with her--which, of course, they had--but he was surprised when they had developed something beyond that. He found himself drawn to her, and not just for her physical beauty. Since they had all been transferred to Pearl Harbor, he'd been more than eager to spend as much time with her as he could. He just hoped she hadn't noticed that he hadn't called in the past few days like he'd said he would. He hadn't meant to ignore her--he'd just been a little preoccupied. Suddenly nervous, Billy decided to turn on the charm in case she had a thing or two to say to him about _that_.

... ... ...

Evelyn arrived at the Pacific Isles Cafe at about seven thirty, and the scent of freshly-prepared food wafting through the doors as she entered the restaurant made her stomach rumble a little. She'd almost forgotten how hungry she was--she hadn't had a bite to eat since her early lunch at about eleven thirty that morning. She headed straight for the counter to order her meal. From outside she'd seen through the window Barbara flirting with Billy, who was clearly enjoying the attention. Apparently her earlier resolve to give him a piece of her mind had melted at some point during the evening. Judging from their animated conversation, it would be a while before Barbara joined her.

A waiter haphazardly dropped a menu on the white counter in front of her before scurrying off to attend to the other patrons. Evelyn smirked at him, then began scanning the list of entrees for something that looked halfway appetizing. Out of the corner of her eye she saw someone get up from one of the booths and make his way over to the counter. She heard a vaguely familiar voice asking the waiter for another round of Coca-Colas. She turned and saw that the voice belonged to Danny.

Danny turned his head toward her at the same time, smiling when he saw her. "Hey, Evelyn," he said. "How are you doing?"

"I'm all right," Evelyn replied. "You?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," Danny said, his lips curving in a wry smile. "Just trying to adjust, you know." Evelyn gave him a small smile; she knew he wasn't just referring to Hawaii.

After another minute or so of small talk, they decided to sit down at a nearby table and catch up on what was going on with each other, although they mainly talked about Rafe. Evelyn was eager to hear some of the stories Danny had about their childhood and their times in military training, and Danny was more than happy to talk about them. He was an excellent storyteller, Evelyn noticed. His eyes lit up as he recalled one of Rafe's many misbegotten pranks from their childhood, which usually resulted in the two of them getting into trouble. Evelyn laughed, clearly visualizing in her mind the sight of Rafe and Danny trying to construct a makeshift rope bridge leading from the roof of Rafe's house to a nearby oak tree.

"You should have seen the look on his dad's face when he caught us," Danny said, wiping away tears from laughing so hard. "He turned all red, eyes bulging and everything--I thought he was gonna explode for a second."

"I can imagine," Evelyn laughed. She shook her head, smiling, as she remembered all the wild and crazy escapades she and Rafe had gone on together while they were back on Long Island. "I have a feeling he got the two of you in a lot of trouble back then."

"Then, now, and always," Danny replied, smiling. "And I wouldn't change a thing."

"Evelyn!" Barbara's voice called from across the room. "Are you going to come over to eat or what? We're ordering now!"

Evelyn rolled her eyes and nodded in her friend's direction. "I might change a few things about her," she joked. "I better get over there before she has a fit."

"Yeah," Danny chuckled.

"So, maybe we can get together some other time. I know you've got some more stories to tell, haven't you?"

"You bet," Danny replied. "So I'll see you another time."

Evelyn smiled and nodded, then went to rejoin Barbara at their table.

"Geez, it's about time, girl," Barbara said once Evelyn reached the seat she had saved for her. "I thought we came here to eat, not to socialize." Evelyn wisely chose not to point out Barbara's own socializing with Billy, and instead turned her attention to the menu in front of her once again. "What are you doing chitchatting with Danny, anyway?"

"What do you mean?" Evelyn looked up from her menu, startled. "Why not? He's Rafe's best friend. We should be friends, too."

"Okay, if you say so," Barbara said.

Evelyn frowned at her, then shook her head. As Barbara turned in her seat to flag down a waiter, Evelyn looked back at Danny, who was back to conversing with Billy and Gooz. Danny really was a good friend, Evelyn mused. She hadn't gotten a chance to meet up with him in the last couple of weeks; she had only seen him a handful of times since Valentine's Day at the Hula-la, but they'd never been able to have an actual conversation. She realized she was especially looking forward to the next time they would meet and talk.

Danny looked back at her table then and caught her eye. They smiled at each other.

_April 17, 1941 - Afternoon  
Hickam Field - Pearl Harbor_

"Okay, that's it for today," Drill Sergeant Murphy shouted to the group of aviators who had just brought their planes in to land. "It's late, I'm tired, let's all just go home, okay?" He walked back toward the office without waiting for an answer. Apparently he was, in fact, tired.

"I get the feeling that Murphy is bored with his job," Anthony muttered to Billy as they walked off the runway.

"Well, who wouldn't be?" Billy replied. "All he does is stand around the field screaming at us all day. I'm surprised his voice hasn't given out by now."

"Well, hey, it's still early," chimed in Red, walking a few feet behind them with Danny. "It's not even five o'clock. What do you say we head on over to the b-b-beach?"

"That's all we ever do when we're not working," Billy complained with a smile. "It's always the beach."

"Well, my friend, this _is_ Hawaii," Anthony reminded him. "You never had a problem with the beach before."

"I don't have a problem with the beach," Billy replied. "I was just making an observation."

"Keep your observations to yourself."

"Don't tell me what to do."

As those two bantered back and forth, Red shook his head and turned to Danny. "So we're all g-g-going to the b-beach, I guess?" he said, rolling his eyes.

Danny smiled. "Apparently."

Anthony turned around and began walking backwards so he could face Red and Danny. "Okay, so let's all go back to the bunks to change and we'll head out in, like, half an hour."

"Sure," Danny said as they approached the sidewalk leading toward the barracks. "The fun never stops here." By five thirty they had all hung up their regulation training uniforms and changed into their slightly loud, typical Hawaiian casual wear, donned their aviator sunglasses and headed out the door to catch the last of the Hawaiian rays on the glistening white sands by the ocean.

As they were walking in the direction of the beach, the sight of the bluffs overlooking the ocean coming into view, Danny thought about the most recent letter Rafe had sent him, which he'd received two days before. He knew there was something Rafe wasn't telling him. From what Danny had been able to gather from the tone of the letter, Rafe made it seem like life in the Eagle Squadron, dog fighting with ruthless pilots, was a breeze. Danny knew better. It just couldn't be that simple. He knew that it wasn't turning out the way Rafe thought it would be. Danny had a feeling that the lack of details in the letters meant that he was being spared all the gruesome realities, but that didn't make any difference--he had always had an extremely vivid imagination.

But Danny still hadn't been able to understand Rafe's eagerness to put himself in the line of fire, to risk so much for a fight that wasn't even his, even though he was assigned to do it. Even the lure of adventure, the excitement of being in a new place didn't seem like enough; it just didn't seem like Rafe. Danny supposed, in the end, that it must have been very important to him. Danny naturally understood Rafe's devotion to flying better than anybody. Anybody who got to know him even a little knew that, really. It was his whole world, and as far as most of their friends were concerned, that was the main reason he'd agreed to go to England. But in his last letter, Danny began to realize that there might be another reason behind it.

"_I'm gonna be the best, just you wait and see,_" the last line of the letter went, as Danny went over in his mind yet again. The sentence had jumped out to him, shocking him with sudden clarity.

Ever since they were little, Rafe had been hounded by classmates and teachers for his struggles to read. When they were in grammar school, it hadn't presented too much of a problem; after all, a lot of children had difficulty learning to read at first. But as they progressed into junior high and high school, and Rafe was still unable to visually process words, their instructors had given up on him. "That McCawley boy is just dumb," Danny had once overheard a teacher comment to another as he and Rafe were standing outside a classroom one day. Those words tore through his soul--it was his best friend they were talking about. He had looked over at Rafe, who was pretending not to be listening but clearly was. Danny remembered the horrified and embarrassed look that crossed his face, if only for a second.

Rafe knew that many people thought he was dumb because he couldn't read well, and while he pretended not to care what other people thought, the criticism seriously got to him over the years. That was why he pushed himself to perform at a hundred and ten percent at everything he did. That was why he'd been so determined for he and Danny to start their own cropdusting business, shortly after their high school graduation, when Rafe's father offered them the funds and supplies to get started. It was why he'd pushed himself to achieve the highest status possible in their flight school, earning the esteem from their peers and superiors.

Rafe always felt the need to prove himself to others, to go above and beyond their expectations and distinguish himself. This may very well have been the reason he'd decided to go to England, Danny realized. The thrill of adventure and the fulfilling sense of purpose and valor had practically begged Rafe to accept the assignment, Danny thought wryly. He could only hope that even half the men in the Eagle Squadron had Rafe's sense of duty and patriotism. They'd have this war beat before they knew it.

... ... ...

It was a beautiful, balmy spring day, and apparently a dozen or so other groups had had the same idea about the beach as Danny and his friends. Beach blankets were spread out all across the sands, their owners lying languidly about, chatting and soaking in the late afternoon sun. Beach regulars toted their surfboards down by the water's edge, while some challenged the waves.

"Let's camp out right over there," Billy said, pointing to a vacant area on the sand a few yards away. "That spot looks good."

"Oh, really?" Anthony said knowingly, an eyebrow raised at Billy. "Your choice in location wouldn't happen to have anything to do with that, would it?"

Danny looked in the direction in which Anthony had nodded. Just down the beach from the spot Billy had settled on were Barbara and the rest of her friends, lounging on blankets and rented beach chairs. The place Anthony had chosen offered a clear view of the girls. Evelyn, Betty, Sandra, Martha, and a couple other nurses he'd seen around but didn't know were there, as well.

"Hey, what do you know?" Billy said as he began to set up camp on the beach. "Small world, isn't it?"

Danny grinned and shook his head as he joined his friends on the blankets they had spread out, helping himself to a bottle of cola from the bucket they'd brought along with them. Billy was busy eyeing Barbara, who, from what Danny could see, was convincingly pretending not to notice. Anthony was trying to subtly get Sandra's attention, who offered a couple of dull smiles but showed no sign that she was going to come over any time soon. Anthony clearly wouldn't take the hint.

"Hey, Red, could you pass me another Coca-Cola?" Danny asked him after he'd finished his first. "Red?"

"Huh? What?" Red stammered, not turning to look at him. Danny followed his stare, and saw that he was watching Betty sitting amongst her group of friends. Danny smiled at his friend; he was definitely smitten with her. Betty was whispering something to Sandra, who motioned for Betty to get up and walk over to them. Betty resisted for a minute, then finally stood up and faced them. She started to move in their direction, then turned around and grabbed Sandra's arm, pulling her up and forcing her to come with her.

Red's ears began to turn bright red as Betty and Sandra approached. Danny gave him a light pat on the shoulder for encouragement, then got up and walked down toward the edge of the beach toward the water. Staring out at the vast space in front of him, the setting sun casting orange and red and purple streaks in the sky, he wondered what the sunset over the harbor would look like from the air. He imagined it was a spectacular sight.

Caught up in his thoughts, Danny didn't notice Evelyn approaching until she was a couple of feet away from him. "So, what brings you over here?" he asked, smiling over at her as she stood beside him.

"Well, Betty and Red seem to be in their own little world." Evelyn nodded back toward their friends, who were now giggling and simpering like a couple of adolescents at a school dance. "I thought I'd take a walk and give them some privacy for a while." She sighed, looking back out at the glistening blue ocean with a wistful expression on her face, her smile faltering a little. Danny gave her a sidelong glance, sensing her melancholy and understanding its cause. She noticed his stare and quickly recovered. "Besides," she continued, "I love to come out here and watch the sun setting on the water. I don't think there's really anything like it."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Danny replied, turning to look back at the disappearing sun. They stood in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, just enjoying the fresh, cool ocean breeze and watching the waves rhythmically rise and fall. After a while Danny looked down at the sand, noticing several seashells scattered around them. He saw a particularly nice-looking one, a large pink and gray shell with a pearly finish, and decided to pick it up. At the same time, Evelyn bent over and reached for the same one. Apparently she had the same idea. They stopped a second or two before their heads would have bonked together.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Evelyn said, straightening up. "Were you reaching for that shell?"

"No, it's all right," Danny responded. "You can have it."

"No, really, it's--"

"Go ahead, I--" Danny said at the same time. They laughed awkwardly.

"Hey, you know what?" Evelyn said, still laughing. "From the looks of things--" She looked back toward their friends, who were still flirting with each other. "--we're probably going to be here for a while. Do you want to help me collect a few seashells? I've been wanting for some time to start up a little collection."

"Sure, why not?" Danny assented.

For the next few minutes they walked along the beach picking up shells and talking. Danny mentioned a time when he and Rafe were in high school and talked about moving to a city somewhere on the coast so they could practically live at the beach all the time. He saw Evelyn really perk up for the first time since he'd seen her today; Rafe was clearly never far from her thoughts. She told him about her misadventures at the beach as a child when she used to spend her summers visiting relatives in California. She especially remembered one incident when her cousin had buried her up to her neck in the sand and had to bring over three adults to dig her out.

Danny smiled as Evelyn wiped away tears from laughing so hard. He was glad to see her in such an exuberant mood, quite a change from the last time they'd talked a week ago. Though she kept up a happy face throughout their conversation, smiling and joking with him as he regaled her with childhood stories, Danny could practically feel the loneliness emanating from her that evening at the Café; as much as she tried to hide it, Danny could tell that she was mentally counting the unknown number of days until he would return. She still missed him terribly, he knew--so did he--but he felt a little better now that he could see that she wasn't completely sinking into despair. He knew Rafe wouldn't want to come home to see his girlfriend withering away from depression.

"Hey, you guys!" Billy called from the sand after a few minutes. "Come on, we're all going to get something to eat."

Danny turned to see everyone gathering their things and making their way up the beach, noticing for the first time that the sun had long since set and it was now quite dark. He turned to Evelyn. "You ready to go?" he asked.

Evelyn smiled and was about to move to join him, but she then paused, her smile faltering. "Actually," she began hesitantly, "I think I'm just gonna head back home. I'm kind of tired, anyway."

Danny cocked his head to the side, looking at her carefully. "Are you sure?" he inquired. She didn't look at all tired a few minutes ago.

"Yeah," she replied. "You go on ahead. Just tell everyone I decided to go home and get some sleep."

"All right. I'll see you later, then." Danny started to turn toward his friends but remembered the handful of seashells he was still carrying. "Hey, do you want these?" he asked, holding them out to her.

"No, you keep them," Evelyn said, smiling. "I've got more than enough." She indicated to the overflowing pile in her hands.

"Okay. Well, I guess I'll catch up with you later," Danny said, smiling awkwardly. "Take care."

"Yeah, you too," Evelyn responded as she turned and began walking in the opposite direction.

Danny stood and watched her leave for a moment before turning to join his friends. That was strange, he thought. What had brought on that? He was pretty sure that she was just making an excuse, about being tired. There was something that had bothered her suddenly, but she didn't seem to want to tell him what it was. Had he said something that upset her? He didn't think he had. Danny decided not to dwell on it too much; it really wasn't too important. But he wondered if he should bring it up to her when he saw her next.

_May 7, 1941 - Evening  
The Hula-la Bar - Pearl Harbor_

Evelyn sat at their small corner table, sandwiched a bit uncomfortably in her seat between Barbara's and Betty's chairs, waiting for their drinks to arrive. Red and Sandra were seated across from them; Billy had gone off to negotiate with the bartender.

She almost felt guilty to admit that she'd been having a great time in the past month. In the first few weeks she'd spent in Hawaii, she had been too busy thinking about Rafe every spare chance that she'd neglected to enjoy herself. She still missed him terribly, and wrote to him every week, but now she realized more than ever that she could still have a good time here with her friends, and she could miss Rafe without becoming totally reclusive.

Today, the whole gang had gone to the beach--as they usually did--and had started an impromptu sandcastle contest. The sculpture she'd created with Betty and Sandra had won, though it was a rather hollow victory. After all, they really weren't competing for anything. But it was still loads of fun. Now, after lounging around on the sand and splashing in the water for a couple of hours, they'd all ended up back at the guys' typical bar to unwind and talk up the rest of the evening.

Evelyn tuned out her friends' conversation for a moment and focused on her own thoughts. These past three months they'd been stationed at Pearl Harbor had been the most interesting--and yet, most dull--time of her life. A part of her was thrilled just to be here, to be able to experience a new environment, explore her new surroundings and partake in different ways of living. And she'd been able to do all of these things. Hawaii was certainly different from the small town in Michigan she'd grown up in. She was thankful every day that she'd been given the chance to be a part of it at all; she'd come very close to missing out on everything, and she was proud of the decision she'd made.

But another part of her was rapidly becoming weary of the routine and uneventful days she spent. During the day she served her scheduled hours at the hospital--which had remained mostly a managerial and organizational job since arriving--and during the evening she either stayed home and kept to herself or went out to dinner or to the beach with her friends. She loved their company, but most of the time she could not help but feel like the fifth wheel in their group. Since the guys usually accompanied them on their outings, Betty and Barbara spent most of the time simpering over Red and Billy, which left Evelyn as the odd woman out. She was happy for her girlfriends, but every day she spent in this paradise, she wished that Rafe were here to share it with her. The loneliness was often quick to catch up with her.

Evelyn's mind transported back to the letter she had received from Rafe the day before, when she had been feeling especially disheartened. Remembering it now, one passage in particular stood out to her and made her feel a little bit better. "_England is a cold place, Ev, but thinking of you warms my heart. I wish with all my being that I could be with you right now, and I miss you so much. We'll see each other again soon, sweetheart, but until then, I want you to enjoy those wonderful Hawaiian islands as much as you can. I want you to tell me all about it and show me everything when I come home."_

"Finally," Billy said, interrupting Evelyn's reverie. He set down a tray containing their drinks on the table. "Not exactly quality service, I'll tell you that much. We ordered twenty minutes ago, for crying out loud."

"Well, look around," Betty pointed out, taking her glass as Billy passed them around. "It's really busy tonight."

"Yeah, well..."

Evelyn smiled to herself, taking a long sip from her own glass. They had all become good friends over the past couple of months, but it didn't mean that they wouldn't argue every chance they got. She looked up at the entrance to the bar as another group entered. She let out a small sigh of relief when she saw Danny enter with Anthony and Gooz in tow. She was worried that he wasn't going to join the rest of the gang tonight; she'd been meaning to talk to him for a while now, and today she'd made the resolve to do it.

"Hey, I'll be right back," Evelyn said, excusing herself and edging her way between her friends' chairs and leaving the table. She saw Danny and the guys head for the far side of the bar. Ever since that afternoon at the beach a few weeks ago, she'd been feeling guilty about ditching Danny when the rest of their friends went off to dinner. She'd been having a wonderful time with him, scavenging for seashells and chatting about their childhoods. He was so easy and comfortable to talk to--it was like being with an old friend. For the first time in a long time, even before Rafe had left, she hadn't felt the least bit lonely. And that was part that had scared her.

When everyone had been getting ready to leave, and Danny was standing there looking at her expectantly, something made Evelyn suddenly jolt back to reality. She had been torn between wanting to join her friends and laugh the evening away, and wanting to retreat back to the nurses' quarters and spend the rest of the night in quiet collecting herself. In the end, going home had won the debate. But Evelyn remembered the disappointed look on Danny's face when she'd told him that she'd rather go home. They'd been having a lot of fun together that afternoon--she could tell that he'd been a little hurt when she'd made a complete one-eighty.

It was just that it had suddenly occurred to her that maybe she was having a little too much fun without Rafe. And that scared her.

Her and Danny's respective groups had met up on a fairly frequent basis since they'd all arrived at Pearl Harbor, so they had seen each other every now and then. But that day at the beach was different. When she and Danny were by the water, Evelyn had realized it was the first time she had hung around him and his friends and not thought about Rafe nearly the entire time. A terrible feeling had come over her, and she suddenly felt guilty.

But Evelyn wanted to reassure Danny that her change in attitude had had nothing to do with him. It had been an awkward encounter, and since then, when their friends had gotten together she'd avoided direct conversation with him. She just wasn't sure what to say to him, because she'd barely been able to explain it to herself. But now, she wanted to be straight with him and clear things up. He was a wonderful person, and she valued his companionship. She wanted to assure him of that, and she wanted to know that they were still friends.

"Hi, Danny," she said when she finally managed to duck around the tables and groups of people.

Danny looked up and smiled at her, a little uncertainly. "Hey, Evelyn. How are you?"

"I'm all right," Evelyn replied. She stood awkwardly for a moment. Anthony and Gooz seemed to take the hint and discreetly drifted away to let them talk alone.

"So," Danny said after a long pause. "Have you heard from Rafe lately?"

Evelyn smiled, her heart jumping a bit at hearing his name. "Yeah, I got a letter from him just yesterday, actually. I wrote back to him a letter twice as long, of course."

Danny laughed. "Well, that's good. He loves a challenge."

"Yeah." Evelyn looked down at the floor for a moment. "Listen, Danny, I really want to apologize ... for that day at the beach a few weeks ago." He looked at her quizzically for a moment, not really remembering. Their friends went to the beach practically every other day, after all. "That time we were by the water collecting seashells?"

"Oh, right," Danny said, nodding. "Apologize for what?"

"Well, I was worried that you were ... offended, or hurt ... when I just decided to leave," Evelyn explained. "I just don't want you to think that it was anything you did or said. Because it really wasn't anything you did. I ... I was just going through a weird time, that's all." She decided not to tell him _exactly_ why she'd fled that day; it was too complicated.

Danny smiled; he was pleased that she had decided to open up to him. He'd gotten the feeling lately that she'd been going out of her way not to talk to him, but he hadn't been able to figure out why. "That's okay," he assured her. "It's no big deal, really."

"Well, it is to me." Evelyn sat down on the bar stool beside him. "We were having a really fun time that day, and I've been feeling so guilty that I kind of ruined the whole thing. Because I really like talking to you. I want us to be friends."

"Thanks," Danny said. "I have to admit that I was actually wondering if I'd done something to scare _you_ off. But I appreciate you clearing all that up. 'Cause I want us to be friends, too."

"Great," Evelyn said, relieved. "I'm glad that's all settled, then."

He smiled over at her and patted her hand gently. Feeling as though a great weight had been lifted, Evelyn sighed contentedly and smiled back at him. She was happy that she and Danny could become friends. Sometimes, she felt that he was so much like Rafe that she could see a part of him in Danny. But at the same time, she knew that Danny was a special man all on his own. He was warm, funny, and caring; she hoped that he was able to see these qualities in himself, because they made him an incredibly kind and compassionate friend--to Rafe and to her.

... ... ...

_Coming up next week-- Ch. 4: Letters. In this chapter, Evelyn and Danny muse over letters from Rafe, while the guys in the squadron try to get away with throwing a surprise party for Danny's birthday.  
_

_I'll be opening up my Yahoo Group sometime this weekend, as well, so look for the link in my profile on Sunday. Ciao!_


	4. Letters

**Chapter Four - Letters**

_June 9, 1941 - Afternoon  
Military Base - Pearl Harbor_

Danny walked briskly to the awning by the nearest hangar, as the driving spring rain was working quickly to soak him. The Hawaiian sky hadn't been bright and sunny in days. It had started out as a mere drizzle one afternoon a couple of days ago, but by that evening it had quickly progressed into a full-fledged storm and it hadn't stopped since. Today was a little better, but it was still a big wet mess all over the place. Just the same, even with dark clouds and puddles everywhere, Oahu was still paradise.

In the months since Danny and his squadron had arrived in Hawaii, life had become more than a little mundane. It seemed that when they weren't in the field and in the air training, they were either down at the beach sunning themselves and trying to pick up dates, or at one of the bars trying to pick up dates. Not that Danny minded; he was having a great time with his friends. He just wished sometimes that there was a little more excitement here in Pearl Ha-rbor. Even taking the planes out for the usual drill, which used to thrill him more than anything, was getting boring and routine. But then, he always reminded himself, he wouldn't have time to be bored if and when America got involved in the war. All the fun would come to a screeching halt then.

As he made his way over to the barracks, he could see a couple of the guys hanging around outside, leaning on the doorjamb and chatting. From the way they were gesturing about, Danny had a feeling that they were talking about the surprise party they were planning for his birthday, which was coming up on the 14th. They were so obvious sometimes; it was so transparent, Danny couldn't believe that they thought he didn't know about it.

"Hey, guys," Danny said when he reached them.

"Oh, hi," Billy said. He casually folded his arms and crossed one ankle over the other as he leaned on the door frame, trying to look as discreet as possible.

"Hey, how's it goin'?" Anthony said, looking equally unsubtle.

"Fine, fine, everything's fine," Danny replied, the corners of his mouth twitching in amusement. "Anything interesting going on?"

"Interesting?" Billy said, his voice going a pitch higher. "What do you mean by interesting? Why do you ask that? Wh--why? What? Wh--?"

"I _think_," Anthony interjected, mercifully cutting Billy off, "that he was just asking a polite question."

"Yeah," Danny said.

"Oh, of course," Billy said in a normal voice, though he still looked clearly uncomfortable. "Well, nothing's going on. Nothing at all." He stood for a moment, his eyes nervously darting back and forth between the other two men. "Well, gotta go. See you later." He turned abruptly and walked back into the rain, heading in the direction to the downtown district of Oahu.

"He seems a little edgy today," Danny said, turning back to Anthony. "I wonder what could be on his mind? What do you think, Anthony?"

"Hmm?" Anthony's eyebrows raised a little, but Danny just stared back. "Oh, I don't know. You know him, he's always a little crazy. I hardly even notice it anymore."

"Hmmm..." Danny said, his eyes narrowed a little, looking at him warily.

Anthony chuckled nervously. "Well, I guess I'd better get going myself. Got a lot to do tonight. You coming?"

Danny shook his head. "Nah. I think I'll just hang around out here for a while. The rain is a kind of relaxing. Although, I hate when it rains on special occasions, you know, like holidays, birthdays ... or whatever."

"Okay, well, then, I guess I'll see you later. Okay, bye." Without waiting for a reply, Anthony rushed back into the barracks, all too eager to avoid any more questions.

Danny shook his head again, laughing a little to himself. He was gonna have a lot of fun torturing those two for the next few days.

Later that evening, it was still raining, not as strongly as before but just hard enough to keep most of the men who'd been planning on going out that night grounded at the base without much to do. Many of the guys in the rec room were getting bored and restless after four straight hands of poker, and the others were racking up again for a third game of billiards. The rest of the pilots were lounging about in the barracks, catching up on their reading and letter-writing to their families, or just relaxing on their bunks. Danny's buddies were among the few guys who decided to venture out into the rain, so Danny was left to fend for himself for the evening.

"Mail call!" a pilot named Walter said, entering the room.

"What do you mean, 'mail call'?" asked Samuel, a friendly but boisterous kid who had just arrived at Pearl about three weeks ago. "Shouldn't those have come in hours ago?"

"Yeah, well, I was in a hurry when they came this afternoon," Walter replied, thumbing through the envelopes, "so I stuck them in a desk outside and I just remembered them a while ago."

The men groaned and threw their pillows and books at him.

"Okay, okay," Walter went on, going through the pile in his hands. "Baxter, Jameson, Stevens, Walker..."

Danny took his letter from the guy next to him and tore it open. He didn't have to read the name above the return address to know who it was from; with a quick glance he immediately recognized the handwriting. He set the envelope aside and began to read Rafe's letter, keeping his scholarly side at bay and ignoring the endless number of spelling mistakes:

_Danny:_

_You couldnt possibly beleive how different it is here. There is always sumthing exciting happening, it's not at all like it was in training back on Long Iland. We get a lot more flying time here just when we practise. When we go into combat, Ill admit, it's a little scary, but it's also realy incredable. Some of the men in the Eagle Squadren had never been involved in a lot of heavy combat befor, but some have been there for monts. But in spite of all that, we all no that were on the same team, and we have no problums working together. In spite of all the eksitement, it's still not like it was with you and me playing chicken and going threw training with the rest of the guys in the old squadron. And I'm sure Hawai looks a hell of a lot pretier than England!_

_Give my regards to the fellas._

_Rafe._

Danny finished reading the letter and stuffed it back in its envelope. He then put the envelope in a folder he kept in his drawer with the other letters Rafe had sent. Sitting back on his bunk, Danny began to mull over what he'd just read.

"Hey, guess what, guys?" Russell Jameson called out, interrupting his meditation. "My baby sister's gettin' married!" He held up the letter he'd received, waving it in the air as proof.

"Aw, little Ruthie?" Russell's pal, Eddie Franklin, said incredulously.

"Yeah, isn't that somethin'?" Russell confirmed proudly.

Danny didn't know Russell all that well and had no idea who his sister Ruthie was, so he wasn't too interested in hearing about her upcoming wedding. He only half-listened to their conversation, still going over Rafe's letter in his mind. Apparently everything in England was great; flying with the Eagle Squadron was "really incredible." Was it, really? Danny had the feeling that Rafe wasn't telling him the whole story. It just couldn't be that simple; he'd seen the newsreels, read the papers. He believed that dogfighting was "different," but how could it also be "exciting?"

The main door to the barracks swung open, and Red, Billy, and Anthony waltzed in, drenched to the skin from the rain that was still pouring.

"Man, is that rain ever gonna let up?" Anthony lamented, holding his arms straight out at his sides to shake the water off. "I am just damn soaked to the bone here!"

"Well, maybe next time you'll listen when I tell you to go back for the umbrella you were so hell bent on leaving here," Billy huffed, stomping his shoes on the indoor floor mat. "But noooo, don't ever listen to me, the one voice of reason and simple logic."

"I take offense to that," Red spoke up, making his way over to his bunk a few feet away.

Danny rolled his eyes. Those guys were capable of arguing for hours if left unattended. Maybe if he pretended he was asleep, they would leave him out of this...

"Hey, Danny, you've just been sitting here staring into space all night or what?" Anthony said.

Too late.

"Nah, just doing some reading," he replied. "I got a letter from Rafe, from England."

"Oh, yeah? How is our fellow flier doing with the RAFs?" Billy asked.

Danny paused for a moment. "Really good. He said it's a lot of fun over there."

_June 11, 1941 - Morning  
Base Hospital - Pearl Harbor_

"Excuse me, nurse, could you do me a favor?" the young patient said in a quiet voice.

Evelyn turned around from putting away suture materials to address the polite young man, who had been laid up for two days with a twisted ankle and a broken arm from a minor auto accident. "Sure, what do you need?" she asked.

The young man, Richard, smiled shyly and motioned her to come over; she stepped briskly around the other empty beds and walked up to him. "Um, would you be kind enough to write a letter for me?" he asked timidly. "I would do it, but, you know, my writing hand's not so good lately." He offered a wry smile as he tried to hold up his right arm, which had a plaster cast extending all the way to his wrist and enclosing parts of his fingers.

Evelyn nodded. "Sure, I would be happy to. Just hold a second, let me get a pen and some stationery and I'll be right with you."

"Thank you so much," Richard said. "I haven't seen my girlfriend in ages, and I miss her terribly, you know. Writing letters back and forth is the only thing that really helps, you know?"

Evelyn smiled. "Yeah, I know."

A minute later, Evelyn had pulled up a stool and was scribbling the letter Richard was composing to his sweetheart, who was back at his home in Chicago. Evelyn smiled a little to herself as she caught the wistful expression on Richard's face as he dictated his "everlasting love" for his "one and only soul mate," Loretta. Richard couldn't have been more than twenty years old; it was sweet to see how clearly hopelessly in love with this girl he was. Evelyn understood exactly how he felt.

"Thank you, ma'am," Richard said after she'd finished writing. She handed him the three back to back pages and he flipped through them with his good hand. "It looks great. Thanks a lot."

"You're absolutely welcome," Evelyn said graciously. "Are you okay? Do you need me to get you anything else?"

"Oh, I'm all right, thank you."

Martha and Barbara appeared in the doorway at the end of the ward. "Hey, Evelyn," Martha said, popping a piece of bubblegum. "Our shift is starting in a couple minutes, so the head nurse said you can go on your break now."

"Great, thanks." Evelyn waved back at Richard then got her purse and her spring jacket from her desk and headed out the door.

Richard looked up at Martha, who was leaning against the doorjamb still loudly snapping her gum. Martha caught his gaze and smirked back at him, one eyebrow raised. "What are you looking at?"

Richard shook his head. "Nothing, ma'am."

Martha glared back at him for a moment, then broke into a small smile. "Are you thinking about making a move on me?"

Richard looks back at her, shocked. Barbara, who had been at the desk going over patients' charts, stood and teasingly smacked Martha in the back of the head. "Stop scaring the boy," she scolded.

... ... ...

Outside, Evelyn had made her way over to the gardens surrounding the back of the hospital, and had settled down at a picnic table. It was almost ten o'clock, and she only had a few more minutes left before she had to rejoin the girls back in the hospital to finish the rest of her shift. Only on rare occasions had Evelyn been asked to cover the early day shift--from 6 a.m. to two o'clock in the afternoon--and she was already starting to feel the drain. This was also supposed to be her time to eat a quick lunch, but she wasn't hungry. She was too preoccupied to think about food.

Rubbing her hands excitedly, she then opened up her purse to take out the mail she had stuffed in it in a rush before leaving for work earlier that morning. She had been in such a hurry to get to work on time that she hadn't even had a chance to see who they were from. But she knew who they were from.

Quickly tearing open the envelope, she pulled out two or three sheets of papers covered in Rafe's familiar cursive. She smiled to herself as she started to read, feeling the familiar tingle of excitement that was always present when she read a letter from Rafe. But as she continued through the letter, Evelyn's demeanor changed and she became more concerned as Rafe described what it was like living in England. It was clear that flying in the Eagle Squadron was--if you could pardon the cliche--not all it was cracked up to be. She skimmed through the letter, one part standing out in particular.

_It's difrent than I thought it wood be here. It's cold. So cold that it chils you to the bone. There is one place I can go to for warmth, thoe. And that is to think of you._

Her heart swelled as she read and reread that last line. Oh, she missed him so much, sometimes it actually hurt. But she knew that he loved her, and someday soon they'd be together and everything would be just as she'd dreamed it would be.

Evelyn skimmed through the rest of the letter, as Rafe discussed the gritty details of what went on when the pilots in the Royal Air Force actually got into combat. Though he didn't elaborate too much on the things he saw--which Evelyn was decidedly grateful for--he did indicate that the morale of his fellow pilots was gradually plummeting. It was a rarity during most aerial battles to have the same number pilots return as that who went out. It must not have been easy making friends there, as Rafe had pointed out in a letter he'd sent her a few weeks ago. Evelyn couldn't imagine how it must feel to go out each day to do your job knowing that, in all likelihood, someone you know probably wouldn't come back.

Evelyn finished the letter and, with a lump in her throat, folded the sheets and put them back in their envelope. She'd been trying with all her might not to think about the all-too-real danger that Rafe was in, that he faced almost every day. With guilty relief, she thanked God that despite all the men in his Squadron who had sacrificed their lives in the fight, Rafe was still okay. She prayed that he would stay that way.

"What are you doing?" a voice interrupted her thoughts.

Evelyn jumped slightly and turned to see Betty sauntering in her direction. "Oh, nothing," she said, stuffing the envelope back in her purse. "Just taking a breather, I guess. Thinking."

"Yeah, what about?" Betty flopped down beside her, sitting backwards on the bench with her back leaning against the table.

"About Rafe," Evelyn replied, sighing. "About Rafe in England." She paused, fiddling nervously with the brass latch on her purse. "Betty, I'm really worried about him."

"Why? He's fine, isn't he?"

"Yeah, it's just..." Evelyn didn't know exactly how to articulate the apprehension going through her. She'd been getting the most eerie feelings lately. "I try to pretend that there's absolutely nothing to worry about, that he's going to be fine, but these past few weeks ... I can't help but feel that something's going to happen."

Betty smiled wryly. "You're bound to feel that way sometimes, Ev. You worry about him. That's fine. But it's probably just paranoia, that's all. You're just concerned."

I suppose, but, I don't know ... I keep thinking that sooner or later everything's gonna be turned upside-down, you know? We've been lucky so far. But what if doesn't stay that way?"

Betty didn't answer this time. Evelyn knew she'd made a good point--she must have if she'd rendered Betty speechless, which wasn't an easy feat. She shrugged. "But you're probably right," she continued. "I'm probably just being paranoid."

"Yeah." Betty nodded in agreement. "I know it must be hard to be away from him, but you've just got to believe that everything will turn out fine in the end. Just wait and see. It's like Red always says…"

As Betty began prattling on about Red, Evelyn turned her attention to the remaining letter still in her lap. It was rare that she would get more than one letter from Rafe at once, but sometimes the mail would be slower one week than it was on another and they got backed up. Never mind; the more she got to hear from him, the better.

She turned the envelope face up and was almost caught off guard when she saw something other than Rafe's familiar scrawl. The handwriting was familiar, though, as was the return address. Detroit.

Her parents.

Betty caught the suddenly pale look on Evelyn's face. "What's the matter?"

Evelyn ignored her and tore the letter open, tossing the envelope to the grass and quickly reading the short note. She then went back and read it very slowly, looking for any subtle references that might indicate how her mother was feeling about her. Her mother had recently learned from family friends who worked in a Navy staffing department where Evelyn had been relocated, and she'd just worked up the courage to contact her. She wanted Evelyn to know that she and her father weren't upset with her anymore for running away without their permission, and she hoped that she would come home to visit sometime soon.

"Evelyn, what is it?" Betty pressed.

"I, uh … I got a letter from my mother," she said, holding up the sheet of paper.

Betty's eyes widened. Betty was the only one of Evelyn's friends who knew about the difficult relationship she had with her parents. "Your mother--what did she say?"

Evelyn sighed heavily. "Basically ... that she and my dad miss me, that's all. And they want me to come home soon." She paused, then started again in an angry voice. "You know, if they miss me so much, why did it take them two years to write to me? She says she just found out that we were sent to Pearl Harbor, but they know perfectly well that I sent them a letter months ago telling them that."

Betty smiled sympathetically. It was obvious that the tension that existed between Evelyn and her parents went beyond their recent lack of communication. "Maybe she was just ... looking for an excuse as to why she hadn't written you yet. She didn't want to stir up any more problems, probably."

Evelyn wiped away a tear that had begun to sneak out of the corner of her eye. "You know, I've, uh … I've got to get going. I'll see you back at the house, okay, Betty?"

Without waiting for an answer, Evelyn stood up and walked off down to the path back to the hospital entrance. Why was her mother contacting her now? Did her father know about this?

She couldn't deal with this. Not now.

_June 12, 1941 - Afternoon  
Hula-la Bar - Pearl Harbor_

"Do you think he suspects anything?" Anthony asked his friends.

"Well, why should he?" Red rolled his eyes. "You guys aren't that good at keeping a secret. I'm telling you, he has to know that we're throwing him a party."

"Nah, he only thinks he knows," Billy said dismissively, taking a swig from his beer. He set it down on the table with a clank. "Don't worry, I guarantee you he'll be surprised."

"Well, I s-s-s-still think he's on to us," Red countered. "I mean, come on, he's not stupid."

"Ah, stop arguing."

It was late in the afternoon and the guys had just finished a series of test flights down at the base. The process was long and exhausting, so they'd decided to unwind at their favorite bar before returning to the mess hall for dinner. Along with getting a little tipsy on beers and Scotch, they were working out the final preparations for the party they were planning to surprise Danny with the day after tomorrow.

They were beginning to realize just how hard it was to plan a surprise party for someone like Danny Walker. He was lots of fun, and knew how to have a good time as much as everyone else, but he was generally more content to settle into the background than get down and get wild, as most of the guys had during a bar-hopping night out a couple of weeks ago. It was Danny who talked the bartender into not throwing them all out on the sand, while the rest of the gang was almost too drunk to even walk back to the base.

Which was why this afternoon, Red, Anthony, and Billy were trying to come up with a good way to approach the bartender and head waiter into letting them have the get together at the Hula-la in a couple of days. They had the feeling they weren't exactly on the preferred customer list lately. Gooz was talking to him right now, trying to appeal for their behavior the last time they'd had a get-together at this bar. It wasn't that they didn't think he'd agree to it, since he wasn't at all opposed to having crowds of people coming into his establishment. The hard part was getting free rounds of drinks into the deal.

"Hey, look, I think he's agreeing to it," Anthony said, nodding in the direction of the bar where Gooz was in the middle of negotiating with the heavyset Samoan man. The bartender looked reluctant, but his expression was amicable.

Gooz shook the man's hand and returned to the guys' table. "Okay, he said it's all right," he said as he settled back into his chair.

"We can have the party here?" Billy asked.

"Mmm-hmm."

"What about the drinks?"

"Not a chance," the bartender's voice boomed.

_Air Base - Pearl Harbor_

Danny climbed out from the cockpit of his P-40 and hopped down onto the runway. Sometimes this was the most difficult part of his day--getting out of the plane. He'd keep right on flying well into the night if he could manage it. He almost regretted it when he shut his engine down.

"Hey, Walker!" a friendly voice called from down the tarmac.

Danny turned to see fellow pilots, Samuel and Russell, jogging along the pavement dressed in army sweats. He waved at them as they approached the plane. "Hey, guys," he greeted them. "What's going on?"

"Oh, not much," Russell said, bending at the waist and resting his hands on his knees as he caught his breath. "Just working out. Where are the rest of the guys?"

Danny gave him a wry smile. "Probably down at one of the bars, as usual, pretending that they can surprise me on my birthday."

"Oh, that's what they've been acting so weird about lately," Samuel said, snapping his fingers. "I thought they were up to something, but I didn't know what it was. So, what, are they throwing you a party or something?"

"Yeah, on the 14th," Russell said.

"What--you knew about that?" Samuel asked incredulously. "You didn't tell me."

"That's because we wanted to keep it a secret," Russell retorted.

Danny laughed. "Yeah, well, it wouldn't have mattered anyway. I've known from the minute this all started, but I figured I might as well give them the benefit of the doubt."

The three men began walking down the tarmac in the opposite direction that Samuel and Russell had been jogging in, heading back toward the barracks. "Now, I'm curious," Samuel said, stroking his chin in a contemplative manner. "Why are they going to all this trouble? I thought surprise parties were something people did when they were, what, 12? I mean, this whole thing seems kind of strange."

Danny sighed. The last thing he wanted was to get into _that_ whole story. But these two weren't in New York with the rest of his squadron two years ago, so they didn't know what happened. "Well, it started back when we were all training on Long Island in '39, with Rafe's birthday in March. He didn't want to make a big deal about his birthday and he kept telling everyone that, but you know the guys. They figured he was just pretending not to want a party to throw them off, and they decided to give him one anyway."

"Yeah, they would," Russell said, rolling his eyes.

"Right. So, Anthony and Billy and the rest of the guys are all getting ready to surprise him with this big party at the base, okay, and the whole time Rafe knew everything they were doing." Danny smiled at the memory. "It was so ridiculous. So when his birthday came around, Rafe decided that he wasn't even gonna go. I tried to talk him into it, and he told me he already knew about the surprise party and he didn't feel like it."

"Why not?" Samuel inquired. "From what I've heard, he sounds like a fun guy, a partying type."

"He is," Danny acquiesced. "It's just ... it's a long story, really. He just wasn't up to it, that's all. But eventually he went to the party and pretended to be surprised. And the guys really thought they had surprised him, too, until I told them the truth."

"Oh, man," Russell laughed as they reached the main bunkroom. "What'd they do?"

"For some reason, they couldn't believe that they couldn't make a good surprise party," Danny said, shaking his head. "Then I insisted that they would never in a million years surprise me with a party, so I guess all this now is to test that theory."

"Oh, so that's why they're going to all this trouble?" Russell said. "Just to prove you wrong?"

"Yeah, stupid, isn't it?" Danny confirmed.

"All I have to say is, I'm up for any excuse to go to a party," Samuel said, "as long as there'll be plenty of booze and a few girls."

"That's pretty much the definition of a party around here, I guess," Danny assured him.

After chatting for a few more moments, Russell decided that he still wanted to get in a little more workout time, while Samuel had had enough for the day. Russell headed back out to the field, Samuel made his way to the showers, and Danny was left alone in the bunkroom. Just talking about his friends' half-baked plan for his birthday made it seem even more ridiculous. He hadn't told Russell and Samuel the whole story, however.

It was true that Rafe had never wanted to make a big deal about his birthday that time two years ago, but what Danny didn't tell them--what he didn't even tell Red and Billy and the other guys--was the real reason why he'd been so adverse to the idea. For 15 years, March 8th was always Rafe's favorite day of the year, besides Christmas. But after the 8th day of March in 1932, it became the worst day. It was because Rafe's mother, Catherine, died on his 16th birthday. She had been ill for several months, but no one had expected her to be taken away just then, that morning. Rafe had never had much interest in his birthday after that.

Danny had known why Rafe didn't want the guys to throw him a party, but he had too much pride to say anything about it. But that was fine, because now the guys had decided to keep the tradition with his own birthday, Danny thought wryly. It looked like his birthday was going to be rather interesting. He wondered how much longer he could keep them going like this.

_June 14, 1941 - Afternoon  
Hospital Dispensary - Pearl Harbor_

Evelyn was sitting at a table going through an inventory list, so she wasn't facing the door as Red came up the path. Betty, however, was sweeping up the floor on the porch and immediately spotted him approaching.

"Red, hi!" Betty exclaimed, dropping the broom with a clang and skipping down the steps to meet him. "What are you doing over here?"

"Hey, Betty," Red replied, already starting to blush. "I, uh, kind of had a little accident down at the b-b-b-base while we were test shooting." He held up his hand, which was covered in a white bandage and had a small red stain from where he had cut himself.

"Aw, you poor thing. Come on, we'll fix you right up." Betty took his unhurt hand in hers and led him up the steps to the dispensary, where Evelyn had been watching them with an amused expression on her face. Betty scowled at her, though she returned her grin.

"Here you go," Evelyn said as he sat down beside a medical cart. She unwrapped the bandage and examined his hand. "Yeah, it looks like you're gonna need a few stitches. Let me fix up, okay?"

"Actually, I'm kind of glad I came by," Red said as Evelyn began to sew up his hand.

"You are?" Betty said, smiling flirtatiously at him.

Red smiled nervously and continued, "Yeah, I was wondering what you and the other girls were doing tonight. The guys are all getting together at the Hula-la for a little surprise party we're having. It's Danny's birthday."

"Oh, that's nice," Evelyn said.

"Yeah, so it would be g-g-great if you two and the other nurses could come tonight, around eight o'clock," Red replied.

"Isn't it a little, well ... unusual to be throwing a surprise party for a man well over twenty?" Betty asked as she helped Evelyn put away supplies. "I mean, it's a great idea, but, you know…"

"I know, I know," Red agreed, smiling bashfully. "It's a really long story. So can you come?"

"Sure, we'll be there!" Betty said, giving him a broad smile. Red blushed even more profusely.

"Okay, that should do it," Evelyn said, giving one last snip at the razor-thin suture she made on the palm of his hand. "You be more careful, all right?"

"Yes, ma'am," Red replied, experimentally flexing his hand. "So I'll see you b-b-both at the party tonight then?"

"Sure thing," Evelyn answered.

"Absolutely," Betty said at the same time. "See you later, Red."

"B-b-b-bye, Betty." Red nodded at them both then turned for the door. He got to the porch and turned around to wave goodbye once again. Betty fluttered her fingers at him, and Red was so caught up in her gaze that he stumbled and almost fell down the steps. Evelyn and Betty artfully hid their giggles as he quickly recovered and tried to act like nothing happened.

"That poor boy," Betty said, shaking her head, after Red trotted down the path back to the base. "He's completely gone over me, don't you think?"

"Oh, I don't know," Evelyn replied mischievously. "He's just being friendly, is all."

"Are you kidding?" Betty said incredulously. "He's just nuts over me and you know it."

"All right, all right," Evelyn conceded, laughing. She finished putting away supplies and turned back to her inventory list.

"Say, Ev," Betty began thoughtfully. "Are you going to write back to your parents? I mean, if your mother took the time to write to you, it must mean they want things to be okay between you again, right?"

Evelyn sighed. "I don't know, Betty. I just don't know what to say to her anymore. To either of them. It's all such a mess."

"I know, but at least she's trying," Betty replied. "Evelyn … my dad took off when I was twelve. Before he left, he said he was going to write to me, but he never did. I … I don't even know where he is or if he's alive or what."

Evelyn was surprised. Betty had never talked about her family before. "So, you're saying that I shouldn't take for granted that my parents _do_ want to keep in touch?"

"No, I'm saying I don't want you to make a decision you'll end up regretting," Betty replied. "I can tell this is bothering you a lot." She smiled. "But I don't want to make you do anything. It's your choice, whatever you do."

Evelyn smiled back at her. How was it Betty could be so young and yet so wise? "I'll think about it, Betty."

"So what did Rafe say in his last letter?" Betty asked, changing the subject. She hopped up onto the table beside Evelyn and swinging her legs idly. "I forgot to ask you the other day."

Evelyn thought about Betty's inquiry. Rafe's letters weren't exactly glowing with the excitement of the London skies lately. Though he still showered her with loving words of affection and adoration, which she greatly enjoyed, whenever he discussed his the events of his job the tone of his words became noticeably more somber and grim. She didn't know whether or not she wanted to relate those details to Betty, even though she was one of her best friends.

Still, Evelyn didn't really see the point in pretending that she wasn't worried about him. She was never the type to hide her emotions, nor was there a need to lie about it. She may as well let Betty know what was going on--it wasn't as though she wouldn't find out sooner or later.

"Well, he--I don't know," Evelyn began. She frowned, not sure how to describe what she was thinking. "I love reading his letters, Betty, but sometimes I feel like ... it worries me so much. As much as I want to pretend that he's not in danger over there, it makes me fear that the worst is going to happen one of these days. It drives me nuts, but I can't help it. I'm just so worried about him. I wish he were here with me, you know, so I'd know he was safe."

Betty smiled and walked over to her, wrapping her in a comforting hug. "I understand, Ev," she said. "You should be worried. But it's only because you love him, right? Everything will be fine. He'll come home and you two'll be together."

Evelyn pulled back and looked at her, a grateful smile crossing her face. "Thanks," she said, wiping away a tear that was beginning to form in her eye. "I know you're right, but I've just still got this creepy feeling inside me that just won't go away. But he will come back." She smiled a little to herself, remembering the last thing he said to her before they separated outside the hotel in New York. "He will come back."

_Pilots' Barracks - Pearl Harbor_

Danny was standing in front of the mirrors in the latrine, just out of the shower after a long drill exercise, but he could still hear the conversations going on in the main bunkroom. The guys had returned from test shooting about an hour ago and were debating whether or not to go to the mess hall for an early dinner before ... well, before the supposedly "surprise" surprise party. Danny could hear their animated chatting through the doors.

"Okay, so we'll all go down to the bar by eight thirty, right?" Anthony was saying.

"Yeah, and someone will stay here and bring him over," Billy answered.

"That's it? That's the plan?" Danny thought it was Russell who said that. "Really clever."

"Well, how else are we gonna do it?" Billy countered. "We can't just tell him to come over to the party. That'd be a little obvious."

"Yeah, you've really avoided that so far."

Danny smiled and rolled his eyes as he listened to them taunt each other. At least someone was aware of how ridiculous this was. He had talked Russell into keeping quiet about the fact that he knew all about the surprise, and so far he was making good on his promise. From what he knew about him, Russell was not the best person to entrust with a secret. A few of the guys had learned that the hard way.

Danny had already finished cleaning up and had changed his clothes, so he ventured back into the bunkroom. Naturally, all talk ceased when they saw him.

"What?" he asked as he looked around at the blank expressions.

"Nothing," Anthony said, managing to keep a straight face.

"Oh, hey, you got some mail earlier today," Billy announced. He pointed at the table at the far side of the room by the large window.

"Hmm," Danny said as he walked over to get it. He wondered who could have sent him a letter, since Rafe had just sent him a letter the other day and he didn't have any other family. He picked it up and saw that it was from Rafe's father, Jake. By the size of the envelope he guessed it was a birthday greeting card, and when he opened it he found that he was right. He was glad that Jake had sent him a card on his birthday; he didn't have any other family to expect a correspondence from, after all.

"Whatcha got there?" Anthony asked.

"Nothing," Danny replied, putting the card back in its envelope. He didn't want to acknowledge his birthday to the rest of the guys; if they wanted to act like they could surprise him, then he could keep up the pretense of pretending that he didn't know about it.

Red came in the room just then, his hand bandaged from when he'd injured it earlier that day.

"Hey, Red," Danny greeted him as he walked back over to his bunk. "Your hand okay?"

"Yeah, it's g-g-g-great," Red replied. His eyes darted back and forth between Danny and the other guys, who were even more obviously tense than he was. Billy, for one, hadn't stopped tapping his foot on the floor since Danny got there.

Deciding that he was going to have to be the first one to say anything, Danny finally spoke up. "So, I think I'm gonna head out," he said, rising from his bunk.

"What, you're leaving?" Red asked, blocking his path to the door. "You're leaving? When are you c-c-coming back?"

Danny cocked his eyebrow at him. "Why? What difference does that make?"

"Uh, well, I..." Red trailed off. He looked at the guys for help. They just shrugged.

"Okay, well, I guess I'll be going then," Danny said, stepping around him. He left the bunkroom before any of the guys could think of a reason to say something. He sighed as he shut the door behind him. As much as he enjoyed parties, he couldn't wait for this day to be over and for everyone to get back to normal--as normal as they could get, anyway.

_Nurses' Quarters - Pearl Harbor_

Evelyn gathered her purse and Betty was checking her makeup in the mirror for the 12th time. It was a half past seven and they were waiting for Barbara and Sandra to come back from their shift at the hospital so they could all start heading for the Hula-la for this party. Evelyn recalled Rafe telling her that Danny was just a few months younger than him, so today was his 25th birthday. She shared Betty's idea that a surprise party was a bit outdated, but she loved parties. Besides, it was better than spending the night in bed reading.

"Okay, we're here!" Barbara's voice announced from the front of the house. "Just give me five minutes to get changes and we're outta here!"

"Okay, stop yelling!" Betty answered back. Evelyn laughed as she sat back down on her bed to slip on her shoes. It looked like it was gonna be a typical night out for the girls.

Five minutes in Barbara time meant at least fifteen, so it was 7:50 by the time the nurses all left the house and started down the road leading to the bars. As the rest of the girls gabbed and betted on which of the guys they were hoping to snag at the party, Evelyn was only half listening to them. Going to this party reminded Evelyn of another birthday party she'd gone to, one that had been a turning point in her life. It was the last time she had been with her whole family before leaving to enlist in the Navy, and it was her decision to do so that had made up most of the evening's conversation. She wondered then if there was something then that could have been said so that the night hadn't ended on such tense terms.

"Oh, hi, Danny." Betty's voice interrupted Evelyn's thoughts. She looked up and saw that Danny was walking along the path toward them. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey. Just going for a walk," he replied. He stopped, his hands in his pockets, and nodded at each of them in acknowledgement.

"Got any, uh, plans for tonight?" Barbara asked carefully.

"You don't have to pretend," Danny said with a laugh. "This party is no secret to me."

"You know already?" Evelyn asked. "Who told you?"

"No one; the guys aren't exactly great at being secretive. I've known for a while now."

"Oh, well, so much for the party, then," Martha said, throwing up her hands.

"No, no, there's still gonna be a party," Danny said. "I've still got them going on this. Just don't tell them I know."

"Sure thing," Evelyn giggled. With a wave Danny continued on his walk, and the girls proceeded on to the Hula-la.

This should be a pretty interesting party," Barbara said as they turned on to the road that led to the bar. "Although the surprise is kinda ruined anyway."

"Ah, who cares?" Betty put a little dance in her step. "Let's just have some fun and go crazy. It's a party, for crying out loud!"

"I think she's got the spirit," Martha said to Sandra.

From the road they could see that the crowd had already arrived at the Hula-la, and the Hawaiian music from the radio was louder than ever. Red greeted them as they climbed up the steps.

"Hey, glad you could m-m-make it," he said, ushering them inside.

"Thanks for inviting us, Red," Betty said, practically pushing Sandra out of the way to stand next to him. She took his arm and they weaved their way through the crowd. Evelyn and the rest of the girls found a table on the other side of the room and sat down. The other pilots were close to the bar, talking animatedly and, Evelyn noticed, a bit agitatedly. Though the bar was noisy she could still hear most of what they were saying.

"Gooz said he's not back at the base yet," Billy told his friends as he gave the telephone back to the bartender. A couple of waiters dropped a huge Mai-Tai volcano on the counter. They all grabbed a straw and took a few long drags.

"Damn, now what?" Anthony asked. "We don't know where he went. How are we gonna get him over here?"

"I don't know," Samuel said. "Well, there's nothing we can do about it. Let's just wait until he shows up. He's gotta come back sooner or later."

Evelyn smiled to herself. It looked as though Danny was going to have a little fun with these guys over this. He obviously knew what they were planning and he was gonna throw them off. She looked up as Betty finally joined them, Red still on her arm.

"Great party, huh?" she exclaimed.

"We haven't done anything yet," Barbara pointed out. "We haven't even gotten our drinks yet."

"So when is the man of the hour supposed to show up, anyway?" Martha asked mischievously.

"Uh, we're b-b-b-bringing him in soon," Red replied. His ears turned even more red under their scrutiny. "What? We are. He'll b-b-be here."

"Okay, if you say so," Martha said skeptically. She flagged down a waiter as he passed by. "Uh, four Mai-Tais," she said to him. The waiter nodded and scurried off.

_Quite a while later..._

It was almost ten thirty and the crowd, while still as lively and loud as ever, was getting restless. The waiters were getting annoyed with the increasingly impatient patrons. The guys were starting to get a little panicky. The bartender, though, was having a great time with everyone trying to pass the time by constantly ordering from the bar.

The girls were having fun, also. After about an hour and a few Mai-Tais, Barbara had rounded up some of the guests and started a conga line around the bar, which had helped revive the party somewhat. But that was at least half an hour ago, and everyone was getting drunk and tired.

"Well, this is a fun party," Martha said with her chin in her hand, her eyes half closed from either fatigue or boredom.

"It's better than sitting at home listening to the radio all night," Sandra commented.

"Barely."

Evelyn agreed with Sandra, but she too was getting a little bored. Billy and the other guys had called the base several times in the past couple of hours, but according to Gooz, Danny still hadn't come back yet. Gooz had given up waiting and had joined the rest of the guys at the bar about twenty minutes ago, after leaving a note for Danny to meet them there for "something." That was apparently what they'd had in mind for Plan B. Nonetheless, it looked like the party's surprise was going to be on them.

"Hey, Billy!" Barbara called out to him. He turned from his conversation with the bartender and walked over to their table. "So is the surprise part of this party still on or what?"

"Beats me," he shrugged. "I don't know what went wrong. This should have worked."

"Sure." Betty rolled her eyes.

"Why is it such a big deal?" Sandra inquired.

"Long story," Billy replied. "But I can't believe we wasted our time--"

"Surprise!!"

Everyone turned in the direction of the unexpected voice. It seemed as though the guest of honor had finally decided to grace them with his presence. Danny entered the bar from the back door, totally unseen from the rest of the guys, who were watching for him to arrive at the front.

"So, here's where you guys all disappeared to," Danny said as he walked into the room toward his friends, who were still a little lost. "Do you always have parties when I'm not here?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," Anthony replied. "Why not? So ... hey, happy birthday!"

You remembered?" Danny said innocently.

"Of course we did," Billy replied. "Why would we forget your 23rd--"

"Twenty-fifth," Danny corrected.

"Right, right, 25th, sorry." Billy looked at his friends for help. They just shrugged. "So, I guess we finally got you, huh? You bought that note Gooz left at the base, didn't you? I'll bet you had no idea there was a party going on here--well, until you got here."

"What note?" Danny asked. "I never went back to the base."

"What note?" Gooz asked the guys. "I was supposed to leave a note?" The guys gaped at him. "Oh, yeah, right."

"Yeah, well," Danny continued, "I wasn't even going to show up, just for fun, but then I decided it might be even more fun to surprise my own surprise party." The guys looked at each other. "What, you think I didn't know about this the whole time? I told you you'd never be able to surprise me."

"Yeah, but--we--you--dammit!" Billy walked off and headed back to the bar.

The girls stood from their table and walked over to say hello and wish him a happy birthday. It was almost eleven and they decided to start going back to the house, since Evelyn, Sandra, and Betty had the early shift at the hospital the following day. They were about to walk to the door when Danny came up to them again.

"Evelyn, can I talk to you for a second?" Danny asked.

"Uh, sure," she replied. She turned to her friends. "I'll meet you guys back at the house."

"Okay, see you later," Barbara said. "And happy birthday again," she said to Danny.

"Thanks," he replied as they exited the bar. He turned back to Evelyn. "Um, I was wondering if you'd gotten any letters from Rafe lately?"

"Yeah, I just got one the other day," she said. "Why?"

"Well, uh ... I don't know if I'm being nosy or what, but ... what did he say? I mean, how did he say he was doing over there?"

Evelyn looked at him carefully. She could tell that he was as concerned about Rafe's well-being as she was. He'd probably been worrying more lately also, just as she'd been. She wondered what Rafe said in his letters to _him_. "Uh, he said ... he said he's doing great," she said, not sure if she was really answering his question. She was, however, not telling the whole truth--while he was fine, what she was implying by saying that wasn't telling the whole story. "He said everything's fine over there. And ... you know how it is. He's just ... fine."

Danny looked at her for a moment. "Okay, thanks. Yeah, I was just wondering if, uh, if he'd told you anything in particular about flying over there. I just know a few bits and pieces, you know, and I'm just curious about that."

"Oh. Okay," she replied. She stood a little uncomfortably for a moment, wondering if she should talk to him about her recent apprehension about the goings-on in England and her fear for Rafe's safety. She figured she might as well leave well enough alone; besides, it was his birthday. There was no need to put this over his conscience if he'd already thought about it. "Well, I guess I'll see you around," she said finally.

"Yeah. Thanks for coming," he said, holding the door open for her.

"No problem," Evelyn replied. "Although I feel a bit sorry for you." She nodded back toward the other guys. "I don't think they're going to let you forget about this."

Danny laughed. "No, I don't think so."

"Bye," she said, walking out the door. She was barely halfway down the path between the bar and the road when she thought about their conversation. Danny had never asked her before, in so many words, about what Rafe put in his letters. He must have been really worried about something, like he had a feeling something was going to happen. And, truth be told, so did she.

... ... ...

_I promise not all of the chapters will be this long!_

_The link to my Yahoo Group is now available in my profile, just click on My Homepage! Coming up next week, Chapter 5: Half a World Apart. Flashbacks to significant events in Danny's and Evelyn's pasts frame the action in Hawaii as Rafe's plane goes down in the English Channel._


	5. Half a World Apart

**Chapter Five - Half a World Apart**

_July 2, 1941 - Early, Early Morning  
Pilots' Barracks - Pearl Harbor_

Danny awoke suddenly with a start, his breath coming in shallow gasps. He looked around the room and saw that the rest of his squadron was still sound asleep in their bunks. There was the barest hint of daylight peeking in through the slats on the windows; Danny looked at his watch and saw that it was barely 5:30 in the morning. Taking a deep breath, he sat up in his bunk and ran a still-shaky hand through his hair. It happened again. He'd had the dream again. "Dammit," he whispered to himself. Was he never going to let this go? Was it ever going to leave him alone?

Danny tossed his blankets off and got out of bed, making a beeline for the latrine. Reaching the sink, he turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on his face. Shutting off the pipe, he stared at the mirror for a long moment. But instead of his own reflection, he imagined he was seeing his father's face looking back at him. The face that kept haunting him in his sleep. He thought about his dream, and his mind transported back to that chilly day in Tennessee nearly fifteen years earlier…

_It was a cold day in mid-February, the coldest so far in 1927. Even though he was barely eleven years old, Danny knew better than to get up until the rickety old house got warmed up. His father was the one who got the rundown furnace going when the temperature got too cold to bear--and even then he often complained about the heat costs--but this morning Danny knew that he wouldn't be foolish enough to argue about expenses. It was damn near freezing._

_But after waiting nearly an hour, Danny decided to just get up anyway. His father was probably still sleeping. He ought to be. Danny hadn't heard him drunkenly stumble into the house as he usually did until nearly three in the morning the night before. He'd be sleeping it off for a while. In the meantime Danny figured the least he could do is get to his chores before his father got up. He didn't want to give the man any more reason to get angry with him than he usually did._

_He was halfway to his bedroom door when he heard an insistent tapping at his window. Crossing the room, Danny peeked outside and saw Rafe standing below, throwing pebbles up at the glass._

"_Rafe, what are you doing?" Danny called in a stage whisper after pushing the window up._

"_Come on, my dad wants to take us to a ball game down at Kennett Field," Rafe explained in a much louder voice._

"_That's so far," Danny pointed out. "And it's freezing out."_

"_I know that, dopey," Rafe said, rolling his eyes. "Dad said it'll warm up later. Anyway, the game starts in less than two hours, so get dressed and come over for breakfast, and then we'll leave!"_

_Rafe turned and trotted back toward his house, a short distance from Danny's, without waiting for an answer. Danny shrugged. A ball game would be fun. It was better than spending a Sunday morning at home by himself, which was what he usually did. Sometimes the McCawleys would invite him to attend church service with them, but that was only when his father said it was okay. Cole Walker was not a huge advocate of divine beliefs._

_As he was getting dressed, Danny mulled over his situation. Not the situation about going to a baseball game or with his father not caring for church, but his whole life situation in general terms. Sometimes he thought his daddy was all right. He had his good days and his bad days. On his good days, he would be the one to take Danny to things like baseball games and picnics, or they would just go out into the field and do the daily chores together. His father could actually be kind of funny, when he wanted to be. His sense of humor was a trait that he rarely let people see._

_But other times ... Danny sometimes wished he were born into a different life, as someone else. His mother, Susanna, had died seven years ago when Danny was four, and his father had never been the same after that. Or maybe he was the same--Danny didn't have many memories of his early childhood. His father could be cruel, demanding, and violent sometimes. A lot of the time, really. Danny had to tiptoe around the house, being extra careful not to do or say anything that might upset his father or rub him the wrong way. When that happened, Danny would almost surely get a beating. How or with what, it never really mattered. He preferred the intense beatings with the buckle-end of his father's belt over the sting of an open-handed slap across the face. The evidence always showed on his face. His father never really cared who saw, though; the slap was Danny's usual punishment._

_Danny got dressed quickly and put on a heavy winter coat over his sweater. Lacing up his shoes, he strained to hear if his father had gotten up, but heard nothing. He was going to have one hangover this afternoon. Fortunately Danny wouldn't be here to be the brunt of it. He left his room and walked down the hall to the staircase, the pungent smell of alcohol emanating through the cracks in his father's bedroom door._

Danny was shaken out of his musing when the door swung open behind him. Joe walked into the room, eyeing him curiously in the mirror.

"Hey, Walker, what're you doing up so early?" Joe asked as he walked over the urinals.

"Nothing," Danny replied. "Just couldn't sleep."

"Yeah, I figured that," Joe said sarcastically. "Anything bothering you?"

"Nah, I'm fine," Danny replied after a long pause. "Think I'll go and catch a couple of hours more sleep." Danny could tell that Joe didn't quite believe him, but knew better than to press the subject.

Danny walked back into the bunkroom and sat back down on his bunk, but he didn't lie down. He knew there was no hope of ever going back to sleep now. Danny didn't like to think about his father much--at all, really. Even when his thoughts drifted on the man every so often, he fought hard to bury them. But sometimes he couldn't help it. And then he would have that dream again. That dream that told him that trouble was coming and that there was nothing he could do about it. That something bad was going to happen--to someone. It was the exact same dream he'd had 14 years ago, the night before that fateful day. And as in every other time he'd had the dream since then, Danny was left to wonder if he'd taken the dream seriously the first time, his father might still be alive.

... ... ...

...The exercise was over for the day, so he was free to go back to the bunks. He longed to get back in the air, but rules were rules, and he had to follow them. Besides, it was getting awfully chilly there. That was one of the strange things about England--it seemed to be cold there no matter what season it was. The battle was getting even more severe on their side. Before long, someone would definitely have to surrender to the other side. But in the meantime, he enjoyed the excitement and thrills that came from defending his side. It was a terrible situation to have to be part of, and there were some days that he was almost afraid to get back into the cockpit of his fighter plane and go over the Channel yet one more time. But he knew that it would all count in the end...

... ... ...

_July 3, 1941 - Morning  
Nurses' Quarters - Pearl Harbor_

Evelyn woke up with a start when she heard the front door slam. One of the girls had come home from working an all-night shift. It was probably Martha, judging from the force of that slam--she always hated working overnight. Sighing, she sat up and rubbed her eyes tiredly. In the bed next to her, Betty hadn't so much as flinched at the loud noise, which was typical. Betty could sleep through a tornado.

Evelyn herself had worked two shifts yesterday, since one of the nurses in the other house had taken a sick day, and she hadn't come home till after midnight after working for ten hours straight. As a result, she was more tired than she'd ever felt in her life. Thank goodness taking the extra shift yesterday had allowed her to take today off, so she was free to do whatever she wanted, including sleep in.

"You're up already?" Betty's voice was muffled beneath her layers of blankets. "I thought you'd be sleeping till noon today."

"I thought you were sleeping," Evelyn said as she fumbled around the floor for her slippers.

"Nah, I've been awake for a while." Betty emerged from under her hiding place and sat up to face Evelyn. "I fell asleep early last night, like around ten. I still didn't feel well."

Betty had had a cold for the past week or so. Evelyn, though, was practically immune to catching other people's illnesses, so her sharing such close quarters with Betty presented no threat to her. "Did you use that compress the doctor recommended the other day?" she asked.

"Yeah, and it worked a little. But I still feel kind of..." As if to complete the sentence, Betty let out a barrage of sneezes, then flopped back heavily against her pillows. "I think I'll just go right back to sleep. Wake me up in time for lunch."

Evelyn giggled. "No problem." She walked out of the bedroom and made her way over to the tiny kitchenette where she and the girls often pretended to do their home cooking. Sandra was already at the small table, still in her bathrobe and curlers in her hair, sipping coffee.

"Morning, Ev," Sandra said, looking up as she entered the room. "Didn't expect to see you up and about this early; it's only seven thirty."

"I couldn't sleep anymore." Evelyn pulled up a chair across from her. "I'm getting too restless these days--too many long hours, I guess."

"Yeah," Sandra sympathized. "You want some breakfast? I was gonna put on some toast."

"Nah, I'm not hungry."

"Oh, you got some mail yesterday while you were at work. It's on the counter over there." Sandra pointed at the tiny counter next to the sink.

"Thanks." Evelyn stood from the table and walked across the room, where she saw two letter envelopes waiting for her. She smiled as she saw the writing on the one on top--a letter from Rafe. She took the envelope from the table and tore into it, reading it eagerly in less than a minute.

"A letter from Rafe?" Sandra guessed based on the expression on her face.

Evelyn looked up suddenly, almost as though she'd forgotten Sandra was there. "Yeah," she said sheepishly, trying to tone down the wattage of the smile that had grown on her face. "He's just catching me up on everything going on over in England. Actually, he says it's getting pretty intense."

"I've been hearing about that," Sandra commented.

Evelyn nodded absently as she looked at the letter again. As much as she absolutely loved to hear from Rafe, she got a little apprehensive when he talked about the dangers in the skies over the Channel. She folded the letter carefully and put it back in its envelope, making a mental note to put it in her bureau drawer with the large collection of letters she had already amassed from Rafe.

From Rafe, and the letter she had received from her mother. Evelyn didn't know why she didn't just throw it away. The very fact that it was in her home bothered her. It was funny, she had only read it the one time outside of the hospital, but she remembered every line word for word. At the end of her mother's message she had asked her to write back. Evelyn still had not done so, and she didn't know if she would. She couldn't imagine what she would say. She had the feeling her mother was expecting to receive some sort of an apology from her. Well, perhaps that was a fair presumption. But Evelyn wasn't ready to bury the hatchet. She really didn't feel that she should, since none of what had transpired had really been her fault. Her estrangement from her parents had been a two-way deal, yes, but most of the blame rested on her parents…

_Evelyn walked into her house late that evening, feeling both excited and dreadful of what her parents might say about the news she was to deliver. She shivered, despite the warmth of the hallway, and changed her mind about leaving her coat on the hook by the door. It was November 1938, and while most cities to the south were just getting used to facing another cold season, this was practically a year-round spell for Detroit._

_he walked further into the house and heard talking and laughing coming from the den, and she could have smacked herself in the forehead. In her excitement over her recent decision, she had all but completely forgotten that today was her father's birthday, and they'd probably been expecting her home at least an hour ago. Evelyn grimaced, imagining the lecture she would receive from her mother._

"_Evie, sweetheart, there you are!" her mother, Pamela, greeted her when she stepped into the den. The older woman crossed the room and wrapped her in a big, perfume-scented hug. "What took you so long, dear? We were wondering when you were going to arrive."_

"_I know, I'm sorry, Mother." Evelyn finally took off her coat and draped it over the back of an empty easy chair. "I guess I got a little sidetracked--it was a busy day at the hospital today, and--"_

"_Oh, that's all right," Pamela interrupted. She grabbed her arm and led her around the room, introducing her to some of her and her husband's friends who had come by for the occasion. Evelyn smiled when her father stood up to kiss her on the forehead, as he always did in greeting._

"_I was afraid you weren't going to show up," Henry Johnson, retired pilot, said._

"_Daddy, of course I wouldn't miss your birthday," Evelyn replied. "Something just came up at the hospital and, well, I lost track of time."_

"_Honestly, what could be so important at that hospital that would make you forget your father's birthday?" Pamela inquired._

_Evelyn glanced between her parents and the other half a dozen guests, only a couple of which were paying attention to their conversation--the rest had gone back to their own private talks. "Well," Evelyn began, "an officer came from the Naval department and started an enlistment program for a lot of the nurses. She was very nice, you know. And, uh, well ... I signed up."_

_Her parents took a sharp look at each other. Her mother narrowed her eyes. "You signed up for the Navy?" she asked incredulously._

_Evelyn cleared her throat. "Yes, I did," she said assertively. "I feel that it's something that I need to do right now."_

"_Like hell you do!" her father thundered._

"_Henry--" Pamela interjected in a somewhat shocked voice._

"_Listen, Evelyn, I know how you feel about this nursing thing you're doing right now," Henry said in a slightly patronizing voice, as though Evelyn were 9 instead of 19. "But really, sweetheart. Running off to join the military? You could do so much more here, at this hospital. And if you feel that you have to ... travel and leave your home behind, why don't you look into a college?"_

"_Because that's not what I want to do," Evelyn argued. "I enjoy working at this hospital, but I feel that the Navy is ... calling me, I don't know. It really means a lot to me."_

"_Why would you want to do this with your life?" her father asked her. "Did you see your sister making foolish decisions and running around like some kind of vagabond?"_

"_That was completely different, Dad," Evelyn insisted. "Karen didn't have a choice with her life. You made sure of that. You did to her the same thing you're trying to do to me now--you chose her life for her. Well, maybe Karen didn't have any other plans, but I do!" Evelyn's sister was five years older than her and was now living with her husband and two young children in Indiana; Karen hadn't come home to visit in over a year. "Why are you making this so hard for me? I don't want to stay here when I feel there's somewhere else I'm needed. I know I said that I'd work at the hospital for a year or so before college, but I can still wait a little longer. You know no one could afford that now, anyway."_

_This was exactly why she'd been dreading this conversation. Evelyn knew that the only reason her father wanted her to either stay at home or go away for the purpose of attending college was that he wanted her to find someone to marry her._

"_If you want to wait longer, then you can wait right here," Henry commanded. "That's right, young lady, you're staying right here in Detroit, because I have no intention of allowing you to waste your life chasing after such a dangerous dream."_

"_Dad, it is not dangerous. It's a reasonable profession, and there are so many rewards to it." Evelyn didn't understand why her father was trying so hard to ruin this for her. "And I've already decided and I'm already enlisted. Daddy…" she went on, "this is what I want. It's my dream. You know what I mean?"_

_Henry's face remained impassive, but Evelyn knew she had struck a nerve with him._

"_You are not leaving, Evelyn," Henry said, his voice even and controlled as he struggled to hold on to his temper. "I won't let you."_

_Evelyn stood her ground, looking him directly in the eye. "I'm 19 years old, Daddy. I don't need your permission. And I'm going whether you approve or not."_

_Her mother moved in between the two before harsher words could be spoken. "Are you sure this is really what you want to do, Evelyn?" Pamela asked in a soft voice. Evelyn could tell that she had her mother's support._

"_Yes, it is, Mother," Evelyn replied. Her eyes darted to her father, who remained impassive. She hated hurting her father this way, but she was determined to live her own life, not the one he had tried to create for her. She was her own person._

"_Evelyn," Henry said, his voice quiet but still threatening, "I know I can't stop you from leaving and going off to God knows where, but just understand this--if you do, don't expect to be welcome here again."_

"_Henry, you don't mean that," Pamela scolded him. "Stop threatening her."_

_Evelyn didn't even blink at her father's ultimatum--frankly, she had been expecting it. "Are you sure, Daddy?" she asked. "Because I'm going to do this."_

"_I mean every word of what I just said," he replied._

_Evelyn nodded, weighing this carefully. Was this really worth ruining her relationship with her parents? The answer was easy. "Okay, then," she said, moving past them to the doorway. "I'm gonna go upstairs and get a few things. I'm gonna stay with Marie." Marie was a friend of Evelyn's from the hospital who had also enlisted. Evelyn ignored the stares of the other guests, who had finally looked up from their martinis and had been watching the exchange with wide eyes. Willing herself not to cry, she turned and left the room, but stopped at the doorway arch. She turned around to look at her father, who had already turned his face from her. "Happy birthday, Dad," she said._

"Are you sure you don't want some breakfast, Ev?" Sandra asked, snapping Evelyn out of her daydream.

"Uh, no, no, I'm fine. Thanks." Evelyn looked up at Sandra. "Can I ask you a personal question, Sandra?"

Sandra looked up at Evelyn, her eyes worried behind her glasses. "Yeah, of course."

"Do you ever regret joining the Navy?"

"Regret?" Sandra asked quizzically. "Well, no, I don't think so. I love what I do--what we all do. Don't you?"

"Sure, I do," Evelyn replied. "But it's not that. I mean … do you think it was worth everything you had to leave behind, your home, family…?"

Sandra stared at her, curious. "Ev, are you okay?"

Evelyn sighed. "I don't know."

... ... ...

...The battle was getting more serious with each passing day. The threat of an incoming invasion was all the more real, and the men in his squadron talked of nothing else but the dangers they were likely to be putting themselves in very soon. But his mind was elsewhere. He thought of a girl, the girl back home who was waiting for him. He was writing another letter to her right now, as a matter of fact. All he had to do was think about her, and suddenly it wasn't so scary being here anymore...

... ... ...

_July 4, 1941 - Night  
Air Base - Pearl Harbor_

Danny and the rest of the guys--the guys from the whole squadron, not just his group of pals--had spent the majority of the evening sitting atop the P-40s parked on the base waiting for the fourth of July fireworks that were supposed to be fired above nearby Battleship Row. Well, their patience had paid off, just as they'd thought. They watched a good three and a half minutes of wimpy fireworks, not really impressed, until a long break in the "show" made it obvious that there was nothing else to see.

"Well, that was worth it," Anthony commented as they got down from the cockpits. "Actually, it was a complete waste of time."

Danny smiled ruefully as he followed the rest of his friends back to the barracks. "I wouldn't say it was a _complete_ waste of time," he ventured. The guys turned around and glared at him. "Or it was."

"All I have to say is they should warn us before they decide to ruin our evening," Billy said when they reached the building. "Put up signs or something that say 'Warning: Boredom Ahead.'"

Danny knew the guys were just bitter that they'd given up yet another night out bar-hopping to see the "spectacular show" that had been advertised on the flyers and posters all around the base. While he hadn't been planning on accompanying them out that night, he too felt that their time was wasted and had been expecting something a little ... not boring.

"So ..." Gooz ventured, his voice uncharacteristically perky for his trademark drawl. Most of the guys had already plopped down onto their bunks, for lack of anything better to do, and were just sitting around and staring into space. "What are we, you know, gonna do now?"

"Nothing," Anthony declared. The other guys half-muttered their agreement. Gooz still looked a little uncertain, but eventually gave up and sat down in one of the chairs by the large window on the east wall.

Danny remained at the same spot he was in when they all returned to the barracks--leaning against the wall by the doorway--and surveyed the scene. Sure, he was never one to demand immediate fun and excitement, but this was just plain depressing. He had to go somewhere.

"Well, I'll see you guys later," he said--to no one in particular, since no one was listening.

A few minutes later he was walking along the road by the beach, watching the surf rise and fall in the twilight. He still couldn't get over just how majestic the landscape in this place was, compared to the rather uninteresting color scheme of Tennessee farmland. Danny turned off the road and began to make his way down to the sand below, feeling the gentle spray of the ocean breeze in his face as he got closer.

He squinted in the almost dark when he saw a pair of shadowy figures gathering their belongings, turning to leave the beach. As he got closer he saw that it was Evelyn and Barbara, apparently having had the same idea as he did of retreating to the peacefulness of the Pearl Harbor waters.

"Hey, Danny!" Barbara greeted him in surprise, after having jumped a little from seeing someone approaching. "What are you doing way out here?"

"Just going for a walk," he replied, shoving his hands in his pockets as a colder wind blew by. He nodded hello to Evelyn, who looked a little upset about something. "Something wrong?"

Evelyn turned as if noticing for the first time that he was standing there. "No, I'm fine," she said a little absently. She tried to give a small smile but it didn't quite make it. Danny looked inquisitively at Barbara.

"Oh, don't mind her," Barbara explained. "She's just having a little family problem she needs to work out. We were out here talking about it when the fireworks started, actually, so we just stayed to watch it."

"I can talk for myself, thank you," Evelyn said, playfully swatting her on the arm. To Danny she added, "We were trying to talk, though, but we could hardly hear anything over the fireworks bursting."

"Yeah, me and the rest of the guys were watching from the base," Danny added. "Not much of a show, was it?"

"Not hardly," Barbara agreed with a laugh.

"Well, I don't want to keep you too; you probably want to get back home," he said.

"Yeah, we'll see you later," Barbara said.

"Bye, Danny," Evelyn said. She and Barbara continued walking up the sand toward the road as Danny waved to them both. After they had gone he made his way down to the base of the beach, close to the water, and watched as the sun completely disappeared over the horizon. Danny frowned slightly as he felt another chill shoot through the air, making a whistling sound in his ears.

... ... ...

...Though it was well into the morning, most of the men were still half-asleep. So it was quite a shock to them when the air raid siren began to wail incessantly. This was it--time to get back into action again. He hurried to his plane, snapping orders and directing his comrades, eager to get into the air. He did so with very little difficulty, and his co-pilots followed suit. Flying for a mere few minutes, they immediately encountered the local welcome wagon--their targets coming from the opposite direction. Quickly, switch to evasive maneuvers. It was like dodging bullets, flying through this mess, and essentially that was what he was doing. Another enemy plane appeared in his view, conveniently flying in his line of fire. Just a bit to the left and ... all right, he was down. Another one tried to get to him, but he was so no match--he took care of him as easily as the last one. Through the crackling of his radio he heard his commanding officer yelling something at him... He had one right on his tail, and he couldn't quite get away from it. He dodged in and out of the swarm of planes around them, but his pursuer stayed right behind him. He saw a barrage of machine-gun fire narrowly miss him--phew, that was close. But he wasn't out of danger just yet. He still needed to get away... oh, damn, something burst in the cockpit. There was oil spraying all over the place. He couldn't see a thing. He began to panic at the oil started a small fire, but he managed to extinguish it enough to stay in control. He began to furiously punch at the glass of his canopy, but it wouldn't budge. It was stuck--he was stuck. He grabbed his pistol and shot several holes in the glass, letting in the much needed clean air. With his fist he was now able to smash a much larger hole in the canopy, but it wasn't enough. Wait, what was that jolt? No, it couldn't be--it was. He'd been hit. This could not be happening. He fought for control of his craft, but the damage was already too severe. The dials spun in crazy circles as the plane began its nosedive, further and further down. It was like being in a horrible nightmare. He watched, sick to his stomach, as the surface of the water below quickly got closer and closer, and closer ... and everything went dark...

... ... ...

It was extremely late by the time Danny got back to the bunkroom, and most of the guys had long since turned in for the night. He showered and changed quickly, ready to collapse himself, and climbed into his bunk. Almost immediately he fell asleep...

_Danny stood in a corner by himself, his eyes squeezed shut as the town doctor came out to speak to Rafe's mother. Catherine McCawley spoke in hushed tones, mindful of the fact that Danny was standing just a few yards away. He opened his eyes, but his attention wasn't directed toward those two. He looked out the living room window, where he could see two men in uniform coveralls lifting a stretcher onto the back of a truck, later to be covered over. Not that it mattered. It was obvious what the truck was containing--on the stretcher lay Danny's father's body, a long sheet over him._

_Why did he have to die?_

_Danny barely noticed when Mrs. McCawley came over and stood in front of him. "Danny?" she said in a soft voice. His eyes were a little glazed over, and he didn't hear her. "Danny?" she repeated in a loud voice. "Do you want to talk to Dr. Whitman there?"_

_Danny looked over at the man, the man he didn't even know who wanted to ask him questions about the father he'd lived with for nearly eleven years. He shook his head._

_Rafe and Mr. McCawley were outside, not far from the truck, discussing who knows what. Other than that, there was no one else around for Danny to talk to, but he didn't feel like talking to anyone anyway, so that suited him just fine._

_Danny had spent the last half hour drifting around, not really paying attention to anything or anyone, since he, Rafe, and Rafe's dad had come back from the baseball game in the early afternoon. They were surprised to find an unfamiliar truck outside and Rafe's mother in the kitchen, talking to a man Danny didn't know. Mr. McCawley went inside first, asking his wife what was going on, while Rafe and Danny stood confused out on the doorstep. Then Mrs. McCawley had come out and taken Danny aside, and she gave him the most painful news he'd ever heard._

_Apparently she'd gotten a package for Cole that had been delivered to the McCawleys' house by mistake, so she'd gone over to give it to the proper addressee. When there had been no answer, she'd gotten curious, and went into the house, since the door was left unlocked. She knew Danny's father was home, because his rickety old truck was still parked outside. She knocked on his bedroom door and, when still getting no answer, cautiously pushed the door open, to find her neighbor sprawled lifeless on the floor. The medical examiner had pronounced a heart attack as the cause of death, and the amount of alcohol found on him plus the empty bottles scattered about the room left little speculation as to the long-coming cause._

_Danny jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked up to see Mr. McCawley looking at him, his face all pity and concern. "Come on over to the house, Danny." he said to him carefully. "You don't want to stay in here by yourself today."_

_Danny shrugged and let Rafe's father lead him from the house to the dusty field outside. He had no intention of staying in that house--today or any other day after this. He didn't know what he was going to do, of course. He didn't have any other family nearby ... no family to speak of at all, really. He frowned. What was he doing? His father was dead--DEAD--and he was fretting about where he was going to spend his time now. He should be in full mourning mode, crying and throwing a tantrum, like their neighbor Mrs. Edelson had done when her husband had died last year. But Danny didn't have it in him to pay his father that one final respect. He wasn't one to make a scene, and he simply didn't feel like it._

_But he was definitely upset, and not simply because, well, the obvious reason he should be upset right now. It was because somehow, someway, he'd seen this coming. Don't ask him how he knew. Not just because he'd learned in school that excessive drinking could lead to countless health problems, and his father had in fact been seriously ill on more than one occasion in the past. No, Danny had actually sensed this turn of events last night, in his sleep. He'd dreamt of this very thing; he'd had a dream that his father was going to leave him very, very soon. It didn't specify how, he just saw that his daddy would be gone. And now he was. His nightmare had proven to be true._

_Danny and Mr. McCawley reached the other farmhouse, not particularly near to his own but still considered to be in close proximity by the area's standards. Rafe followed close behind them. Danny looked up at the white-boarded house, kept up to look much better than his own house, which at one time had looked exactly like this. A tear finally escaped his eye as he continued to stare at the house, the home and the land that he and Rafe had played on since they were toddlers, the place he was likely to never see again once child authorities got ahold of the news. Was there something he could have done for his father? Could he have gotten help, or helped him somehow? Had his father called for help sometime during the night, and Danny hadn't heard him? A million what ifs ran through his mind, not one of them making him feel any better._

_Another distressing thought entered Danny's young and innocent mind as he followed Rafe and Mr. McCawley into the house. Was that really a dream or a premonition? Was that possible?_

For the second time in just a few days, Danny woke up with a start with his heart pounding with anxiety. He looked around the room, seeing not the McCawley farmhouse as it was in the twenties but the dark bunkroom of the barracks.

Why was this happening to him now? In the years after his father's death, Danny had had the dream--relived that horrible day--many times in his sleep. But eventually it had tapered off. He hadn't had the dreadful dream it in at least four or five years. He'd thought he'd finally been able to keep his repressed sorrow at the very back of his conscience, at times almost forgetting it completely. And yet here it was once again creeping up on him, stalking him in his dreams anew--warning him. A nagging sense of dread crept up his spine.

... ... ...

_That's Chapter 5. Sorry about the delay. Coming next week, Chapter 6: Paradise Lost. I think we can all figure out what that's going to be about. :) This chapter will mostly follow what we already saw in the movie, but after that, in Chapter 7: Cruel Summer, we're back to "the stuff they didn't show." Stay tuned and thanks for reading!_


	6. Paradise Lost

**Chapter Six - Paradise Lost**

_July 13, 1941 - Late Morning  
Air Base - Pearl Harbor_

It was only ten forty-five, but the summer sun was having no mercy on the Hawaiian islands. Danny adjusted his sunglasses, which were perched atop his head, so they were now covering his eyes. Nonetheless, he was still squinting a little in the bright light as he made his way away from the entrance of the barracks to the open area of the air base. Today was one of the rare Sundays when he had almost the entire morning and most of the afternoon free to do whatever he wanted, and while he'd hoped to take advantage of his day off, he really didn't have much to do. Most of his friends were still scheduled for various assignments around the base, as they'd used up most of their days off already, so Danny was off by himself.

"Hey, Walker, where are you runnin' off to?" a familiar voice called from a few yards away.

Danny turned and saw Gooz saunterng up toward him sporting that annoying navy-colored baseball cap he seemed to have become obsessed with in the last couple of weeks. "Have you taken off that hat at all since ... I don't know, last week?" Danny asked him, an amused eyebrow raised.

'Once in a while," Gooz replied automatically, not noticing that his friend was making fun of him. "So, what are you doing?"

"Nothing, I guess," Danny shrugged, shoving his hands deep into his pockets. "Walking around, looking for something to do. Why, you got something going on today? Seems everyone else does."

"Nope," Gooz conceded, looking around the base, where dozens of people were preoccupied with some sort of activity. "I heard there's probably gonna be a coupla boxing matches happenin' over at one of the ships in a couple hours. Might head over there. You wanna come along?"

"Yeah, sure," Danny agreed. He didn't have anything better to do, and evidently neither did the naval crew at Battleship Row. Out of the corner of his eye he saw one of the maintenance men waving at him from one of the hangars further down the field, motioning for him to come over. It was then that he remembered that he did have something to do that day. "Actually, I'm gonna have to meet you later, okay? I was supposed to help Campbell with an engine malfunction over there." Danny directed Gooz's attention to the other hangar, where Campbell was standing impatiently. "But I'll catch up with you in a while."

"Yeah, all right." Gooz started toward the naval ships, but stopped and turned around. "Oh, by the way, you got a telegram this morning--it's back at the office if you want to get it."

Danny started walking toward the hangar. "Okay, thanks," he said over his shoulder. "I'll pick it up later."

_Nurses' Quarters - Pearl Harbor_

"No, absolutely not," Martha was saying vehemently as Evelyn walked into the main living room of the house. "I am not covering for you again. That's the third time in a month."

"Please?" Betty whined, clasping her hands in front of her in typical begging manner. "Come on, I promise I'll never ask you again if you take my shift this afternoon. Please, please, please?"

"Oh, good Lord, stop being such a pest." Martha sat back down in her chair and lifted a magazine to her face, resuming her position of ignoring her. "I said no, and I mean no."

"What's going on?" Evelyn asked, making her presence known.

Betty jumped at the sound of her friend's voice from directly behind her. "Oh, nothing," she said huffily. "Just Martha, ruining my life."

"No, it's just Betty, being melodramatic as always," Martha scoffed.

Evelyn was tempted to roll her eyes. Betty and Martha were always sniping at each other about something. Just this morning, and they and the other girls were getting ready for church, they practically got into a shouting match over whose turn it was to use the bathroom first. She could just imagine what serious issue they were debating this time.

"Red wants to take me out today, but I got stuck with the afternoon shift at the dispensary at the last minute," Betty explained to Evelyn. "And my good friend Ms. Roberts won't even do me the slightest favor and take my shift for me."

"And Ms. Bayer here needs to realize that it's not my job to rearrange my schedule so she can go off acting lovey-dovey with her silly little boyfriend," Martha pointed out, peeking over her magazine.

Evelyn held up a hand before Betty could counterattack that remark. "All right, take it easy, you two," Evelyn said, trying to mediate. "Betty, I'll take over your shift for you. What time do you start?"

"Oh, I couldn't ask you to cover for me," Betty argued. "You've worked like crazy all week, you should take a day off."

"No, really, it's all right--"

"Oh, thank you, thank you!" Betty practically threw herself at her friend, almost knocking her off her feet. "My shift starts at 12:30. Thank you so much!"

Martha rolled her eyes and went back to her reading.

_Battleship Row - Pearl Harbor_

"Come on, you owe me five bucks," Danny argued with Gooz as they filed off the deck of one of the ships after the last match was over.

"Nope," Gooz said, shaking his head. "Like I said, the fight was rigged. Fixed. Totally fake."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Whatever. But you're giving me that five dollars sometime today." Gooz grunted in annoyance; Danny playfully swatted him on his shoulder. It had been a relatively uneventful afternoon, just hanging out around the base and watching a couple of boxing matches on the ships's decks at Battleship Row. Most of the sailors and pilots either had the day off or were taking a long break from their duties. It often seemed all too surreal to Danny--here they all were, on one of the largest military bases in the country, with a deadly war hundreds of miles away in one direction and thousands away in the other, and their main concern on a perfectly good weekday afternoon was betting on who would win Boxing Match 183. It was more than a little inane to him, but hey, who was he to complain about it? It wasn't as though they had many chances to take advantage of free time.

"The rest of the guys were gonna meet up at the bar in a while," Gooz was saying as they began to cross the base toward the barracks.

"Yeah, they told me," Danny replied, looking at his watch. "I might stop by later. I'm just gonna relax for a while. I've got a long day tomorrow."

"Oh, lucky you," Gooz said wryly.

"Mmm-hmm."

"All right, then, see you later, buddy." Gooz trotted off in the direction of the downtown district as Danny made his way up the steps to the barracks. Turning the first corner, he passed by the tiny room that was supposed to pass for the office for this building, and remembered Gooz mentioning that he had a telegram waiting for him there. Danny stopped in his tracks and made an abrupt U-turn, nearly colliding with someone who was walking behind him.

"Oh, sorry," he said as the guy rolled his eyes and walked on. Danny shrugged and walked into the office, his eyes scanning the wall of about twenty cubby holes filled with papers and envelopes, until he found the one designated for residents' telegrams next to the cubby for regular-sized letters. He knew he really wasn't supposed to go through the mail himself--there was usually a person sitting at the desk who did that--but since the office was empty, who cared? He sifted through a few envelopes until he found the telegram with his name on it. Tearing the envelope open, he pulled the letter out and began to read it.

And then the blood literally drained from his face.

Danny blinked several times, sure that he couldn't have read what he just read. This just couldn't be true. There was no way, it just couldn't. He must have gone back and reread the telegram over a dozen times, trying to make sense of it all. The words swirled on the page in front of him, almost a blur to his eyes, and as much as he wanted to pretend that none of this was happening, he knew by the sinking feeling in his stomach and the throbbing headache that was starting that it was happening. It was.

He stood there paralyzed for several moments, still holding the telegram in front of him. He was so stunned that he didn't notice that Billy, who had see him standing there as he passed by in the hall, had come in and was trying to get his attention.

"Hel-lo?" Billy said for the third time before Danny finally turned around and saw him standing in the doorway. "What are you doing in here, anyway? Stealing?" Billy's amused smile dropped when he saw the pale look on his friend's face. "What's with you?"

Danny stood there in silence, facing Billy but not really seeing him. Around him, everything in the room seemed to get smaller and darker.

... ... ...

Danny stood in front of the mirror in the latrine, though he wasn't thinking about his appearance at all. He had just changed into his standard military uniform and had come into the restroom to finish freshening up, but he hardly paid any attention to what he was doing. He kept seeing the words in that telegram over and over again. "We regret to inform you..." "Plane piloted by Lt. Rafe McCawley went down..." "Reported dead..."

Dead.

He was still having trouble connecting that word into the comprehension part of his brain. It just didn't make any sense to him, even though everyone else in his squadron seemed to understand. He had been fielding condolences and sympathetic words for the past hour and a half, ever since he snapped out of his trance and told Billy, who in turn informed everyone else, about the telegram. The telegram that had been sent to him to inform him, in a very brisk, business-like manner, that his best friend, his brother, his other half, had been shot down and killed in England. Why did this have to happen? Why did it have to be Rafe? Danny couldn't come up with one logical reason for it. It just wasn't fair.

Sighing, he turned on the faucet and splashed some water on his face, trying to snap himself out of it. It didn't help any. He leaned forward, his face still dripping, and more or less banged his forehead against the glass. The slight pain barely registered--he was still in shock.

"Hey, Danny, you all right?" Anthony's voice said from behind him.

Danny turned and saw his friend standing next to the door, the concerned look on his face barely concealing his own sadness. His friends were experiencing their own feelings of grief over this news, too. Most of the squadron had become solemn and subdued over the past hour after the news got around.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay," Danny lied. He grabbed a towel from the counter and wiped his face, realizing that his face was wet not just from tap water but from his own tears, as well. "I'm fine."

Anthony smiled awkwardly. "Oh, come on," he said. "This is me, remember? You can talk to me, you know."

"Yeah, I know," Danny replied, turning away and facing the window on the opposite side of the room. "Not right now."

Though he wasn't watching, Danny could sense that Anthony was still standing there, trying to think of something else to say, but he knew better than to push it. He knew Anthony was just trying to help, but he didn't want anybody to try to help him right now. He just wanted to be by himself.

Finally, he heard Anthony's footsteps as he left the restroom, and Danny was left alone. Looking back into the mirror, he scrutinized his reflection, wondering why he was in his uniform when he wasn't even on duty today. He realized that it just felt like the right thing to do at this particular moment. Flying was the one thing he'd always wanted to do with his life, and he wouldn't even be here now if it weren't for Rafe. Rafe was the one who had encouraged him to push himself to be the best--or second-best, as Rafe had jokingly reminded him of on occasion--and never settle for anything less than perfect. Rafe had always looked out for him, put his interests first. Danny had never once thought about what his life might be like if his friend weren't there for him. He hadn't thought about it in so many terms, but he'd always thought that they would be best friends forever, always looking out for each other.

"Why?" Danny whispered to himself, his hands clenching the sides of the sink so tightly his knuckles were turning white. "Why'd you do it?" He'd been asking Rafe that very question in his mind repeatedly in the months since they'd last seen each other, the day he left for England, and he never managed to come up with an answer on his own. Rationalizing it every which way he could think of never provided Danny with the answer to the question that had continued to plague him: why did Rafe think he had to go England, into the line of fire? For the first time since reading the news of his friend's eath, Danny was ashamed to realize that he felt angry at him for leaving--not for leaving for England, but for leaving him behind. Twice.

Unable to stay in that room by himself, alone with his thoughts, for another second, Danny moved away from the sink and went to the door. He took a deep breath, knowing that he would have to face a lot of inquisitive stares and sympathizing glances from everyone in the room, but he didn't want to totally break down in front of everyone, either. Crying, especially in front of other people, just wasn't in him.

The room fell suddenly quiet when he entered, and everyone seemed to be waiting for him to say something. Danny didn't really have anything to say. He avoided meeting anyone's eyes directly and just walked over to his bunk in silence and sat down, still not looking at anybody. When it became apparent that he wasn't about to make any big announcements yet, the noise level returned somewhat normal.

Danny felt the bunk shift underneath him and a hand tap him on the shoulder. "Hey, the guys told me what happened," Gooz said. "I'm really sorry." Danny nodded but didn't say anything. "I know you probably just want to be by yourself right now," Gooz continued, "but if you ever want to talk, well, you know ... you can talk to us."

"Thanks," Danny finally said, though he didn't know how Gooz was planning to talk to him about this. He hadn't even known Rafe.

"I know I never met the guy," Gooz went on, seemingly reading his mind, "but I heard you two were really close."

Danny turned to face him, his expression solemn. "Yeah," he said quietly. "We were."

Gooz seemed to sense that Danny wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone about this yet, so he got up and left him alone, for which Danny was grateful. He knew he'd have to face his friends sooner or later--he couldn't just completely ignore them; after all, they were his friends and they were almost as thrown by this news as he was--but he didn't know what to say to any of them right now.

Unable to take it anymore, Danny stood abruptly and walked out of the room, pretending not to notice everyone trying to decide whether to let him leave or to go after him. He walked down the hall to the double doors and pushed them open, letting in the bright summer sunlight. For a while, he just stood on the doorstep, looking out at everything but not paying much attention. He thought he'd needed to get some fresh air for a few minutes, but it wasn't doing much to clear his head.

The door opened behind him, but Danny didn't look to see who it was. He hadn't needed to, since Billy and Gooz stepped around him to face him, anyway. "Hey, I, uh, I talked to Doolittle," Billy began. "He said we should start getting the word out about a small memorial service. Probably in the next day or two."

Danny nodded, absently stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Yeah, we'll do that, day after tomorrow or something like that."

"We'll start letting people know," Gooz continued after a moment. "Let the other pilots know, and a few others, too."

"Red's out with Betty right now, but we'll tell him when he gets back," Billy said.

Danny looked up then, and his mind transported back to the last time he saw Rafe, at the train station in New York. "If something happens to me, I want you to be the one to tell her..." Rafe had said. Evelyn. He had to go tell her, before she found out from someone else. He had promised Rafe to tell her if ... if anything happened to him. Danny was dreading this more than anything, knowing than Evelyn would be just as devastated--if not more--as he was. But he owed it to Rafe, the last favor he would do for his best friend, before he said goodbye.

_Hospital Dispensary - Pearl Harbor_

"So why do you have to fight with your fists to get respect?" Evelyn asked Petty Officer Dorie Miller, the young man whose boxing wound she had just stitched up. She had just finished and was walking him to the door. They stopped just outside the porch.

Dorie Miller gave her a small half-smile. "I left my mama in Texas to join the Navy, to see the world," he replied. "To become a man." He shrugged. "And they made me a cook. Not even that--I clean up after other sailors eat. In two years, they've never even let me fire a weapon." Dorie gave her another tiny smile, trying to look as though the fact didn't bother him as much as it clearly did.

Evelyn nodded, understanding. Dorie wasn't the only African-American man registered with the Navy, but he was the only one she'd met who refused to just stay along the sidelines and take life as it came to him. He wanted to do something, even though to most people he was only kitchen help. While she didn't necessarily agree with the male-oriented theory that the key to status and respect was based on physical acts, she did understand his desire to prove himself to those who thought he couldn't do it. She understood completely.

Evelyn smiled encouragingly at him. "Well, let's hope you never have to," she said. "You take care of yourself, Petty Officer Miller."

"Yes, ma'am," he said, putting his sailor's cap back on as he turned and headed down the steps. He waved back at her when he reached the bottom and began to walk down the path heading back toward Battleship Row. Evelyn smiled back at him and watched as he disappeared around the bend. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the automobile that had been coming down the road from the other direction stop in front of the dispensary. The large white star on the side indicated that it was a military car, but Evelyn couldn't imagine who it was.

For a fleeting moment, as the passenger door opened and a uniformed soldier stepped out, Evelyn's mind allowed her to believe that it was Rafe, having returned from Europe and come to see her after so many months. She held her breath anxiously. But the man lifted his head to look at her, and she saw that it wasn't Rafe, not at all. But she was close. It was Danny. Evelyn started to smile in greeting, until she saw the expression on his face and the somber look in his eye, and her smile faltered. What could possibly--?

And then in that instant she knew why he'd come.

Danny began to walk toward her, each step deliberate and slow, as if he were dreading what he was about to do. But Evelyn could already tell why he was here. She stepped off the porch and walked down the pathway, meeting him halfway. They stopped a few feet apart and she looked up at him, knowing full well what he was about to tell her but still hoping against hope that he'd come to visit her for some other reason. But the sadness in his eyes belied any fantasies she had, and her heart constricted painfully in her chest. She felt suddenly lightheaded and weary, as though she were about to faint, but she didn't. As the tears began to form in her eyes, she felt Danny's arms pull her gently to him. The first tear slid down her cheek as she numbly leaned her head against his shoulder, grateful for some kind of comfort when she felt her entire world slipping away.

... ... ...

A few minutes later, Evelyn and Danny were sitting side by side on the wooden bench outside the dispensary, overlooking a huge stone fountain. Her whole body felt numb and weak and she wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball and cry herself to sleep, but she still needed to know exactly what had happened. She had to know what had happened to Rafe.

"It was a serious battle," Danny was saying, his voice cracking a bit as he fought back his own tears. "They said he was under a lot of heavy fire and ... well..."

"I still can't believe it," Evelyn whispered. "I can't believe he's gone." She stared down at her lap, noticing that her hands were shaking slightly. She hadn't had that nervous reaction since she was a child and she'd woken up from particularly horrifying nightmares. Only she knew that this was not a dream, as much as she wanted to pretend it was. This was real, and Rafe was really gone.

"You know, he taught me how to fly," Danny went on. "I always knew that, no matter what kind of trouble I got into, I'd never be in it alone. That he'd be there with me." Evelyn turned to look at him, and saw with a startling clarity the pain he was in. "Up there he was always pushing me to be better, and faster." Danny stopped, overwhelmed by the weight of it all.

Evelyn smiled bravely. "He told me you were a great flyer. The same night he told me that ... that he volunteered to go to England."

Danny turned his head sharply, looking at her in surprise. "Volunteered?" he inquired. "He ... he told me he'd been assigned."

Evelyn looked at him again, not realizing that Rafe had told them two different stories regarding his transfer to Europe. She couldn't even begin to imagine how much this was hurting Danny right now, as much as it was destroying her. Evelyn couldn't say for certain, but she was pretty sure that Rafe had told Danny the assignment story to protect him from the dangers. The dangers that he inevitably hadn't been able to protect himself from.

"He was always trying to protect me," Danny said, not at all realizing that he was echoing her thoughts. "But, you know--I look at myself in the mirror in this uniform, and I still don't know who I am. I look like a hero ... but I don't feel like it. Rafe ... he always looked the part, didn't he?"

The tears began to well up again in Evelyn's eyes. "He couldn't wait to be one," she began to sob. Unable to take it anymore, she broke down and began crying in earnest. She put a hand over her mouth to muffle her heartrending sobs as she cried into Danny's shoulder again. As she continued to cry, she felt his shoulders begin to shake as well, and she knew that he had given up trying to brave and was sobbing, too.

_Nurses' Barracks - Pearl Harbor_

Betty walked up the path to the nurses' house late that afternoon, having spent a wonderful time with Red. She didn't care what her friends said--he was a terrific guy. Polite, courteous, and had a great sense of humor. And she found his stutter cute. But then, she always found it endearing when guys were nervous around her. At any rate, the whole day had been amazing. After she'd coerced Evelyn into taking over her shift at the dispensary for her, she'd joined Red for a nice picnic lunch and then for a walk along the beach and a ride around town.

It had been a terrific day, that it, until she had accompanied Red back to his own barracks to talk to one of his friends for a minute before he took her back home. Betty shuddered, remembering how dark the mood had been there. She'd been about to ask them what the heck was going on when Red's friends had told them both the horrifying news they'd heard that day, after learning the information contained in the telegram Danny had received. Betty was shocked to learn that Rafe's plane had been shot down in England. In her vaguest sense of reality she knew the possibility of something happening to him over there was very real, but despite all of Evelyn's worries, she'd never really thought that anything ever would happen to him. The guys had said that Danny had been practically wandering in shock all afternoon--that is, until he worked up the nerve to find Evelyn and tell her the news himself.

The guys reported that Danny had returned from telling Evelyn the news, but then had gone out again to be alone and hadn't come back yet. So now Betty's concern was shifted to her best friend and roommate, who was no doubt in far worse shape than the other pilots.

Betty pushed open the screen door to her barracks and found Barbara and Martha sitting in the small living room, reading magazines and talking quietly. She knew Sandra was assigned to the hospital until late that evening, but Evelyn was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, Betty," Barbara greeted her when she finally noticed her entrance into the room.

"So, how was your little date?" Martha asked, smirking at her. "Was it worth all the whining?"

Betty rolled her eyes. "Yes, it was, but I'll tell you about that later." She peered around the corner into the kitchen, but it was empty. "Have you girls seen Ev?"

"Yeah, she's out back," Barbara replied. "She looked upset, but she wouldn't talk to us."

Betty nodded, realizing that Evelyn hadn't told any of her friends about Rafe yet. "Think she'd want some company?" she asked.

"Be my guest, honey," Barbara dubiously responded. "We both tried to go out there three times, but she kept telling us to leave her alone."

Betty walked through the living room and around the hallway that led to the back porch of the nurses' home. She stopped in the middle of the small den and saw Evelyn through the mesh screen, standing by the railing at the edge of the lawn and staring out at the water. Betty took a deep breath and pushed open the door. The creaking noise of the old door got Evelyn's attention and turned to see her coming down the steps.

"Hi, Ev," Betty said, coming to stand a few feet behind her. Evelyn nodded and smiled slightly, but she didn't say anything as she looked back at the water. Even without looking directly at her, Betty could see how thoroughly shaken her friend was. "Ev, I,uh ..." Betty trailed off, not knowing where to begin. "Red and I--we were at the guys' barracks and we, uh, we heard what ... what happened."

Evelyn's body stiffened but she didn't respond.

"Are you okay?" Betty said softly.

Evelyn hesitated, but then shook her head vehemently. "No. No, I'm not okay, Betty. I just--I don't know what to do." She finally turned to look at her, and Betty saw her eyes clouded over with unshed tears. "I don't know why ... why this is happening," she finished with a sob. Her shoulders shook and Betty wrapped her arms around her, holding her as she began to cry. "Why did this happen, Betty? I just want to know why this happened."

"Ssh, ssh," Betty comforted her, patting her on the back. Evelyn's sobs quieted down but she shook uncontrollably nonetheless. Betty found that she didn't have an answer to that. How could one explain something like this? Some things in life just defied any logic or reason, but that didn't make them any easier to live with. "It'll be all right, Evelyn," was all she could think of to say. "It'll be okay."

"How? How is it going to be okay?" Evelyn asked somewhat angrily. "It'll never be okay. It just can't..."

Evelyn turned away from Betty and faced the water again, gripping the cold metal of the railing, her head bowed and back hunched. Betty wished with all her might that she could do something to ease her friend's suffering, but she knew there was nothing else she could do for her except give her some space. But she wished she could do more than that, because all the space in the world wasn't helping her very much so far.

_July 15, 1941 - Morning  
Beach - Pearl Harbor_

Danny stood on the white sands on the beach, staring out at the crystalline blue water, watching the white foam of the waves crash against the shore and shrink back. Rise and fall, rise and fall, the same routine over and over. He'd never really noticed until now how monotonous and, well, just plain unimportant it was, after all the time he used to spend out here just peacefully watching the ocean. What good was any of it all? Sighing deeply, he noticed for the first time that dark clouds were beginning to gather in the sky. It was probably going to rain later that day. He was almost glad--all that perfectly bright and cheery weather from the last couple of days was beginning to wear on his nerves.

He was dressed in his less formal military uniform, as were most of his friends that day. It was the day of the memorial service to honor Rafe, to say goodbye, to send him off with dignity. Danny could hardly stand the impersonal formality of it all. Originally the service was to be held at one of the base churches, which was where they generally did military sendoffs. It would be officiated by one of the appointed ministers or a high-ranked officer, who would probably go off on some radical tangent about how Rafe left this world for the spiritual realm and could serve on forever in the grace of God. Which was all perfectly fine and dandy, but Danny didn't think he'd be able to suffer through that level of stuffiness. That just wasn't what Rafe was about--it wasn't what he would have wanted. Rafe had always been perfectly content with the simpler things about life. He hated pretension, as did Danny, and would have been completely uncomfortable at a ceremony like that. For Christ's sake, he wore blue jeans to their high school prom. He had no concern for conventionality.

So yesterday, Danny had proposed a change of plans. With a mild amount of convincing on his part, he'd managed to relocate the service to a much less traditional location, somewhere where Rafe would have felt more at home and less worrying about people judging him. There weren't that many places around the Pearl Harbor base to choose from for this situation, so the guys had suggested to Danny that they had a small, very simple service at the Hula-la Bar, which was where the people around here kept their unofficial "Hall of Fame" of fallen heroes anyway. The service was scheduled for noon that afternoon, about an hour and a half from now. Danny checked his watch for about the third time since he'd been out there. Now it was an hour and nineteen minutes away.

With one last look at the ocean, Danny turned and walked up the beach to the path, the image of the vast expanse of rushing water stuck in his mind, making him feel uncharacteristically small and defenseless in such a large and unforgiving world.

_Hula-la Bar - Pearl Harbor_

Flanked by Barbara and Betty, Evelyn walked up the steps to the Hula-la Bar. From outside she could see that the bar was practically full, even though it was the middle of the afternoon. The rain that had threatened earlier that day had begun to fall in light flurries, though it was getting heavier by the minute. Barbara had reluctantly taken Betty's advice in bringing along an umbrella, which she now held above all their heads.

Evelyn had spent the last day and a half locked in her bedroom, not talking to anyone but Betty, and that was only because she had to. For the first few hours after learning of Rafe's death, she had been in a state of extreme shock, not comprehending anything and refusing to believe the reality of it. The finality of it all had finally hit her that evening, and she had cried for hours before falling asleep in the early hours of the morning. But now it was the day of the memorial service, and Evelyn wanted to hurry and get it over with. She couldn't bear to be around the mourning and sympathetic faces, the grieving people casting pitying glances at her. She knew these people were her friends and they meant well, but all she wanted was to go home and be by herself.

The girls entered the bar and found Red, Billy, and several other guys, most she knew but she few she didn't, already waiting. Martha and Sandra emerged from the crowd and greeted Evelyn and her friends as they made their way in.

"Hey, Ev, how are you doing?" Martha asked, her usually hard-as-nails exterior softened with compassion for her friend. She put an arm around Evelyn's shoulders and gave her an encouraging hug.

Evelyn shrugged, looking down at the floor. Martha glanced up at Barbara and Betty, who just gave Martha a "You understand what she's going through" look, and left it at that. The group of girls made their way to a free space in the room, where Red came over to stand by them. Evelyn felt like she were having an out-of-body experience, as though she were looking at herself from somewhere else and she wasn't really feeling any of this. None of it seemed real to her.

She looked around the crowded bar, noting how difficult it looked today, and not just because she rarely saw what it looked like in the middle of the day. There was no excited chatter, no bustling about, no pilots and servicemen tossing back a few drinks and trying to cozy up to the women. The mood was heavy and somber; no one was talking animatedly, just murmuring to each other in hushed tones. Evelyn could feel half the eyes focused on her, and the rest were looking about uncomfortably. It didn't seem right. A lot of these people had only known Rafe as an acquaintance; they couldn't possibly be feeling the anguish she was. But it was still nice that so many people wanted to show their respects. And it was a big turnout--she could tell that Rafe was extremely well-liked, although that was already common knowledge.

"Hey, Danny," she heard Billy say. Evelyn looked up and saw Danny enter the bar from the north side door. He looked even more lost then she felt.

Everything after that seemed to go by in a blur for Evelyn. For the rest of the service, she felt as though she were just going through the motions. One by one, a few of Rafe's friends from his squadron stepped up to the front of the room to say a few words, but she only paid attention to a few of them. In her mind, she was remembering all those evenings she and Rafe had spent together in New York when he got a chance to get away from his base, their last-night escapades and long talks about everything and nothing. She'd never had a connetion like that before with any man she'd dated--she'd never loved anyone the way she loved him.

Her mind barely registered as she received one of the shot glasses filled with Scotch that were being passed around the room. A single tear trickled down her cheek as she saw Danny take his place at the head of the room, pouring another dose of Scotch into one last shot glass, this one propped on the shelf at the end of the room. There were two other glasses on the shelf, both overturned, in honor of two other fallen comrades. The captioned labels above the two pictures read "Killed in Training." Between those two was a recent picture of Rafe, underneath the caption "Killed in Action." No one else who had died in duty received that proclamation, because no one else had seen combat before. Evelyn's lower lip trembled, but she fought to hold her ground.

Danny looked up at the crowd for a moment in silence, clearly struggling to keep his emotions at bay. He held up his shot glass in front of him, as did everyone else. "To Rafe McCawley," he began his toast. "The best pilot ... the best friend I ever knew, or ever will know." Evelyn sensed that he wanted to say more, but he was already choking up and trying not to show it. "To Rafe," he concluded simply, and tipped his head back to down his drink. The rest of the people in the bar followed suit. Evelyn reluctantly drank her Scotch, feeling the alcohol burn its way down her throat. She looked as Danny seemed to be looking for the words he wanted to say next, but instead he simply turned around and placed his empty shot glass upside-down in front of Rafe's picture. He didn't turn back to face the crowd; he stayed fixated on the wall in front of him. His head bowed and he slumped his shoulders, clearly unable to go on.

It became evident that this was the end of the ceremony, as Danny didn't say another word to anyone and didn't even turn around. Slowly, everyone began to file out of the bar, a few stopping to murmur a quick condolence to Evelyn. As she and her friends began to walk over to the door, Evelyn turned one last time to look at Danny, seeing his shoulders tremble ever so slightly as he cried quietly. She wanted to do something for him, to be able to grieve with him, but she didn't know what else she could do for him. She left him alone and walked out the door into the summer sunshine tampered by the brisk rain, a paradox which she thought was a cruel reflection of her life at this moment.

Later that evening, long after the afternoon shower had stopped, Evelyn found herself wandering over to the beach again. She hadn't set foot anywhere near here in two days, but she couldn't seem to stay away right now. This place had been her secret haven, the place she went to think and dream about Rafe, where she wrote her heartfelt letters to him, prayed for the day when they would be reunited. But now those dreams were dust, and he was never coming home to her. And still she couldn't stay away. She didn't know why, but she needed to come here, to feel that part of him with her still.

Her shoes crunched against the still damp sand as she walked along a path on the beach, her gaze fixated at her feet as she carefully avoided the crabs and small but pointy rocks that had been unearthed from the rain. She thought of all the lazy afternoons she'd spent here, by herself or with her friends, totally carefree and frivolous, living in a world where she felt isolated from real pain. Never in a million years had she thought her life would fall apart like this, and the feeling was overwhelming, threatening to consume her. And she still sought the same answer she felt would ease the suffering she felt, something to make sense out of all of this--Why did this happen, to Rafe, to her? Why had things turned out this way? She and Rafe were supposed to be together forever. It wasn't supposed to be like this. She wasn't supposed to be alone.

Looking around her surroundings, Evelyn noticed that she had been walking for quite some time, and she was a ways from the main road. She was about to turn around and head back when she noticed a familiar figure a few hundred yards away. It was Danny, standing alone down the beach, close to the shore and staring out at the water. For a minute Evelyn stood there watching him, wondering if he'd come to the beach by himself like this for the same reason she had. Just then he looked in her direction and their eyes met for a long moment; from the distance between them, his expression looked blank, and she knew she probably looked the same way. He turned and looked away, back at the water, then began walking off in the opposite direction, supposedly in the direction he'd come from since he was heading back to the air base.

Evelyn watched him leave, trying to figure out how fate had dealt them both the same hand in such a brief instant. A big part of both of their lives had been taken from them, and, if he was feeling anything at all what Evelyn was going through, he was undoubtedly trying to understand how life was supposed to just continue on from this. As she continued on her way, back to the road, she couldn't help but wonder what the fates had in mind for them now.

... ... ...

_So that's chapter 6. Coming up next weekend will be Chapter 7: Cruel Summer, which will basically fill in those three months after Rafe's "death." Don't forget to join my Yahoo Group! The link in my profile, just click on "Homepage." Thanks for reading!_


	7. Cruel Summer

_Yes, I'm still alive! Sorry about the looooong wait. So much for my "one chapter per week" promise to myself. :( I decided to tweak some things in later chapters, which meant tweaking some things in this chapter, and I ended up rewriting it three times before I ended up with ... not a whole lot of difference from what I had in the first place. But it's here at last - enjoy!_

**Chapter Seven - Cruel Summer**

_August 3, 1941 - Afternoon  
Nurses' Quarters - Pearl Harbor_

Evelyn stared out the window beside her bed, though she wasn't at all looking at the crystalline, picture-perfect blue sky or the emerald-green leaves on the trees in the side yard. She used to love the view she had from her room, or the view from anywhere in Pearl Harbor, for that matter. It was always beautiful, even on rainy days. But now, for all she cared, the whole world might as well have gone black and white for all the enjoyment she was getting out of it.

It was nearly three o'clock in the afternoon and most of her friends were off somewhere enjoying the warm, sunny day, but she was content, in a matter of speaking, to just staying at home by herself. She glanced down at her arms, noticing that her dark Hawaiian tan had faded in the last couple of weeks since she hadn't spent much time outdoors outside of walking to and from the hospital. A seagull cawed somewhere in the near distance, but other than that it was completely silent. And depressing.

A couple of soft knocks on her bedroom door broke her out of dreary meditation. "Come in," she said half-heartedly.

Barbara poked her head in the room and darted her eyes back and forth until she found Evelyn sitting by the window. "Hey, honey," she said softly. "What are you doing?"

Evelyn shrugged. "Nothing." What else could she say to describe it?

Barbaracame into the room and sat down in the desk chair beside Betty's bunk. "You know, the girls were thinking about going into town and maybe having dinner at one of the real fancy hotels, like the Hawaiian Bijou or something. It'd be nice to get all dolled up again."

Evelyn offered her a small smile, trying her best to be cordial. "Thanks, but..." She wasn't up to spending an evening in an elegant place and dancing the night away; she was barely in the mood to walk to the kitchen. "I think I'm just gonna stay in." She lifted up a book from her nightstand and held it up for her friend to see. "And Betty's been after me for weeks to read this. She said it was great. I'm just gonna curl up and relax tonight."

"Oh, Ev." Barbara walked over to her and pulled her to her feet. "Please come out with us, just tonight. Me and the girls are really worried about you--you've barely set foot outside the house in over a week. I know you're going through a lot but you gotta give yourself a little break every now and then. Please, pretty please?"

Evelyn smiled in spite of herself. Barbara looked so silly when she started whining like a little girl, while decked out in heels and full-on makeup. The last thing Evelyn wanted was to be around a big crowd at a hotel, but she knew that she'd be better off agreeing than to keep on arguing with Barbara. "Fine," she said dejectedly.

"Good." Barbara gave her a little pat on the shoulder. "You'll see, Ev; it'll be good for you to get out and get some fresh air, to relax a little. Take your mind off things."

Evelyn waited until Barbara left the room and shut the door before she tumbled back into her bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. She didn't know why she'd agreed to this. She knew Barbara meant well, but she wished her friend would just leave her alone with her misery. She really didn't need any company, no matter how much misery seemed to love it.

_Later That Evening_

Evelyn sat at the small round table, covered in a lacy white tablecloth, drumming her fingers next to her untouched wine glass. All around her, people were mingling, talking, drinking, dancing, just plain having fun. The jazz trio on the bandstand was playing one of her favorite tunes, but she didn't want to so much as tap her feet to the melody. From her corner seat she had a great view of the sun setting over the horizon in the distance, but she didn't care. She checked her watch for the fifth time since she and her friends had arrived at the Hawaiian Bijou, counting down the minutes until she could safely suggest that they head back home.

On the floor, Betty was dancing circles around Red, who was having almost as much fun trying to keep up. Barbara and Billy were talking by the bar, and Martha was trying to coerce a gentleman a few tables away into getting on the dance floor with her. Sandra, who had been keeping Evelyn company for most of the evening, had gotten up to dance with Red a few times, after Evelyn insisted that she not ruin her own evening by sitting at the table with her all night. The rest of the guys, including Anthony and Gooz, had to work at the base that night.

Danny, Evelyn had learned after talking to Red for a few minutes, hadn't had any work to finish up; he had simply declined to come along. Evelyn smiled wryly, thinking that he must have much better persuasive skills than she did to have talked himself out of this one. No doubt the guys had bothered him incessantly about going out like her friends had persuaded her, but he'd managed to convince them to go without him.

As nice a person as Danny was, Evelyn was actually glad that he hadn't come. Knowing that the girls would be spending the evening with their usual dates, she knew that meant that most of the guys in the squadron would be there, too, and she hadn't seen Danny since the memorial service. Evelyn didn't think she could even face him again without being flooded with grief, as he reminded her too much of Rafe. Barbara had wanted her to go out tonight to keep her mind off Rafe and off her sadness, but on the contrary, she had been thinking about him every moment since she left the house.

"Fine, be a wallflower," Martha called to her gentleman of choice as she walked back to Evelyn's table. Shaking her head, she pulled up the plush chair across from her. "How are you doing, Ev?"

If there was one thing she was getting tired of, it was people asking her how she was doing. It was the most unnecessary question in the world with the most obvious answer. "A little tired," she said, which was the truth. People didn't realize just how exhausting feeling sorry for yourself was if you did it enough.

"Yeah, I'm about ready to call in a night myself," Martha agreed, though her eyes kept drifting to the dance floor. Martha was saying something about her being the best dancer in Baltimore, but Evelyn tuned her out along with everything else in the room. It was like being in a very vivid dream where the images drift by in a slow haze and nothing seems quite real enough to be believable, but your dream self still thinks it's really happening. That was how Evelyn was feeling right now. She was sitting right in the middle of the dining room of the ritzy hotel in downtown Oahu with crowds of people around and tons of noise, but it still felt so artificial to her.

As Martha got up after eyeing another prospective dancing partner, Evelyn downed the glass of red wine in two gulps, not caring that she didn't particularly like the drink. After a few minutes, Evelyn noticed that all of her friends were happily preoccupied with their dates and their dancing and their fun, and she just couldn't stand to be there anymore. Gathering her coat and her purse, she pushed her chair back and walked to the door.

Walking briskly against the windy night, she reached home in less than ten minutes. The house was dark and empty, since everyone was either working at the hospital or dancing at the hotel. Evelyn didn't bother to turn on any lights as she changed into her nightclothes. What was the point? She was going to go straight to bed, anyway. After she'd finished changing, she stood in the center of the room and stared out the window again at the glowing reflection of the moon bouncing idly off the water.

Evelyn stood rooted to that spot for several minutes, hardly blinking, not moving. She just stared out at the water, transfixed. She turned and reached into bureau, rummaging through its contents until she found her diary. It had taken to resting at the bottom of the drawer for the past month. She hadn't written in her diary since about two or three weeks before she'd learned that Rafe had died. Since then, she hadn't felt any reason to jot anything down. What could she have to write about? She opened the diary slowly, running her fingers lightly across the pages over the ink that had lost since dried from previous entries. Most of them had been details about her feelings about Rafe, and her dreams about the day they would be together again.

She wanted to write something then, to get her feelings out. She didn't want to talk to her friends about it; she always felt better expressing her deepest emotions on paper. Evelyn grabbed a pen off the desk and put it to the first clean page, making nothing more than a black dot on the white paper.

Just then something inside her snapped, and she dropped the diary on the floor as her hands began to shake. Evelyn threw herself across her bed and began to sob into her pillow. On the floor the diary remained open on its spine, various letters and notes that had been inserted between its pages having been scattered across the floor, along with a paper origami bird.

_August 4, 1941 - Morning  
Pilots' Barracks - Pearl Harbor_

Danny lay on his back in his bunk, arms folded behind his head as he stared dully at the dirty ceiling. _Another day_, he thought dejectedly. What day was it anyway? Friday, Saturday? Funny how little details like time start to slip away from you when you realize you're alone in the world.

Most of the guys had already gone down to the mess hall for breakfast. He'd told them to go on without him and that he'd meet them later, but he wasn't hungry and he doubted he would make it there. Of course, judging from the pitying looks they'd thrown in his direction just before they'd left, Danny was pretty sure they all knew he wasn't going to show up already. Not that was anything new to them.

In the weeks since Rafe's death, Danny had become even more of a loner than usual. No, he didn't spend all of his time holed up in the bunkroom. Quite the opposite--he was almost never around. Whenever he wasn't able to finagle his way into extra flying time, he was always at the Pacific Isles Cafe or one of the other diners in town, or at the beach, or catching the late show at the movie theater--anything to keep himself busy. The problem was, wherever he went he always went alone. Anthony would offer to join him at the café, or Billy would try to invite himself along to the beach, or Red would invite him to join he and Betty at the movies, but Danny always refused and ended up going by himself.

The guys had been particularly persuasive last night, practically begging him to join them for a night out with the girls at the Pacific Isles. But Danny had been equally persistent, and had practically ordered them to go on without them. He had a feeling his friends were getting a little tired of his moody disposition, but Danny didn't care. He didn't care much about anything anymore.

The main door swung open just then and Gooz walked in, munching on an apple. "Hey, Walker, I thought you were coming down to eat," he said when he saw Danny still in the same position in which he and the other guys had left him when they'd gone out over an hour ago.

"I'm not hungry," Danny replied, barely looking up at Gooz.

"Come on, man, you gotta eat," Gooz said as he settled down on his own bunk. "They actually got some edible stuff today."

"Maybe later." Danny hoisted himself off his bunk and walked over to the latrine, not bothering to say anything more to Gooz.

Gooz finished munching on his apple, a pensive look on his face as he watched his friend retreat to the bathroom. _Wow, he's really not doing good_, he thought. He threw the apple to the trash can in the corner, and missed, as the rest of the guys--Billy, Anthony, Red and Joe--entered the bunkroom.

"Well, is he coming or what?" Billy asked him after surveying the nearly empty room. Gooz shook his head.

"Man, this is bad," Joe said. "I mean, I know he's sad, but now he can't even eat?" Joe's appetite was notorious among the barracks.

"Hey, you guys, cut him some slack," Red intervened. "He lost his b-b-b-b-best friend. We can't exp-p-p-pect him to just snap out of it. It's only been a few weeks."

"I know, but still…" Billy trailed off. He was very worried about Danny. Of the rest of the guys in their usual going-out group, Billy had tried the hardest to tag along with Danny over the last few weeks and keep him company. He had witnessed Danny's insistence on spending all of his time alone more than the others, and it bothered him to see his friend isolate himself so much.

"Look, we can't let this go on forever," Anthony said. "We gotta do something."

"And just what, pray tell, do you suggest we do?" Billy asked. Anthony shot him "the look" that meant he had a scheme brewing.

_August 8, 1941 - Evening  
Base Hospital - Pearl Harbor_

After making up the last of the beds in the east wing, Sandra was finally ready to return home. It had been a long shift at the hospital today. Since they'd had no patients for the second day in a row, the head nurse had decided that today was the day they were going to once again do inventory on all of the supplies in the entire unit. It had been a long, tiresome, and yes, boring task. Since they hardly ever had patients, they had almost all of the same materials left that they'd had the last time they did inventory six weeks ago.

She shot a look over to the other side of the ward, where Evelyn was sitting at a table and reading over her own inventory chart. Evelyn had hardly said a word to anyone all day.

"Are the cabinets still stocked with gauze?" Evelyn asked suddenly, the sound of her voice nearly catching Sandra off guard. "I think we used a bunch last week for those sailors with the burn wounds."

"I think Nurse Robinson already reordered those," Sandra replied. She eyed her friend cautiously before continuing. "How are you doing today, Ev?" she asked.

Evelyn looked up at her, but Sandra had a feeling she wasn't really seeing her. "I'm all right," Evelyn managed to say in answer. "Just … you know, the usual. Just trying to work." She turned back to her list. Sandra sighed. Evelyn hadn't flipped a page on her clipboard in at least ten minutes.

"Well, you know, if you ever want to talk to me, or any of us, we're here for you. You do know that, right?"

"Yeah, I know," Evelyn said, keeping her eyes glued to her clipboard.

"_Have_ you … been talking to anyone?" Sandra went on. Evelyn looked over at her again, and Sandra wondered if maybe she shouldn't be pressing so hard. "I was just wondering … I mean, I know you haven't been talking to Betty. She's worried, too."

"You don't have to be worried," Evelyn said.

"But we are, Ev," Sandra said, a little more forcefully than she intended. Evelyn looked up at her in surprise at the change in her tone. "You know, sometimes it helps. To talk, I mean. I know you're in a lot of pain now, more than I could even know. I know that. But it can't be good to keep everything so bottled up inside." Sandra paused. "Maybe you should talk to Danny. You know, he's probably going through the same feelings you're going through right now--"

"Sandra, please!" Evelyn interrupted, exasperated. The last person she wanted to hear, or think, about was Danny. Because the truth was, she did want to talk to him. She missed his friendship, especially now when she needed it the most. But she just couldn't... She took a deep breath to steady herself before continuing in a softer tone. "I don't feel like talking about it. But don't worry. I'll be fine. I am fine. Really." She sighed at the look on Sandra's face that showed she wasn't the least bit convinced. "I gotta go. I got some more stuff to take care of before I go home."

With that Evelyn got up from her desk and, stacking her clipboard on top of the pile on the head nurse's desk along the way, marched out of the room. It wasn't until she had walked to the end of the ward, pushed open the door leading to the side of the hospital and felt the cool breeze on her face that she allowed herself to cry.

_August 10, 1941 - Morning  
Air Base - Pearl Harbor_

Danny executed a clean landing on the runway after completing his third random test flight for the week. It was the same path he always took, and usually he enjoyed it nonetheless, just grateful for every opportunity he got to take a plane into the air. But now his schedule seemed all the more monotonous, and he was just going through the motions. He opted for more in-flight practices not because he needed them, but for the distraction.

He shut down the engine and climbed out of the cockpit, pausing for a moment to look at the air base, noticing that everything seemed busier than usual today. Or maybe it was always like that and he just hadn't bothered to pay any attention to it lately. He didn't really care.

Edward Murphy, the resident drill sergeant for his squadron, sauntered up to him as he made his way across the tarmac to the edge of the field. "Nice run you had up there," Murphy said as he caught up with him. "You going for some kind of record?"

"No, sir, just trying to stay up on top of things," Danny replied.

"Well, keep it up and you'll get promoted above me," Murphy said jokingly, his mouth twitching in what apparently passed for a smile for him. "So cut it out."

"Yes, sir," Danny said. He tried to match his superior's good-natured ribbing, but he wasn't in the mood to joke around. It seemed for the last few weeks, everyone around him was trying to become a comedian in the hopes of raising his spirits and keeping his mind off of his troubles.

"Anyway, don't forget tomorrow you've got another practice drill at noon, so tell those friends of yours not to be late--again," Murphy said, all business again. "Noon does not mean two thirty."

Danny rolled his eyes as Murphy turned his attention away from him and began shouting at some guys further down the field. Without a second glance in his direction the drill sergeant marched over to give some other unsuspecting soldiers another tirade. He didn't think it was really his place to keep a time table for his friends--they knew when they were supposed to be on duty, and if they were late, it wasn't any of his business. Danny was starting to think his friends were right about their assessment of Murphy's hyperactive, manic nature--he was always yelling at somebody about something, whether or not they had done anything wrong in the first place. Well, it gave them something to laugh about. Danny hadn't had much reason to laugh much these days.

He turned away from the field and headed for the barracks to shower and change. He had promised the guys that he would meet them in town for lunch, and he didn't think he could manage to talk his way out of hanging out with them anymore. They had practically ordered him to join them today. It wasn't unusual, and ordinarily Danny would find an excuse to bow out of it. This time, though, they wouldn't take no for an answer.

After arriving at the bunkroom, Danny had taken his time to get ready, since he wasn't especially excited to get where he was going. By the time he was dressed and heading out the door, he was already twenty minutes late for meeting Billy, Joe, Gooz, and Anthony at the Cafe. Punctuality hadn't exactly been his strong suit lately. Danny shook his head as he walked briskly down the sidewalk that bordered the various restaurants and shops in town.

He finally reached the restaurant just before two o'clock, seeing through the plate-glass window that his friends had already arrived and were looking restless. He stood for a moment, watching them in their carefree, happy attitudes, and felt a little envious. He couldn't remember the last time he felt like he hadn't a care in the world--it felt like a lifetime ago. But these past few weeks had been the most difficult he'd ever had to experience since his father died, perhaps even more so. He really wasn't up to being sociable right now, despite his friends' intentions, but he knew he would have to face it sooner or later.

Danny was just about to move--in what direction, into the restaurant or away from it, he wasn't sure--when a familiar voice caught his attention from down the street. "Hey!" Red called to him.

"Hi, Red," Danny said, crossing the distance between them to meet him halfway on the sidewalk. "I didn't know you were coming today."

"Well, I wasn't, b-b-but I just had some free time so I thought I'd stop b-b-b-y," Red responded. They stood for a while, and Red seemed to be waiting for Danny to say something. He peered at him curiously. "You okay? I mean, you know, how've you been d-d-doing lately?"

Danny shrugged. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said none too convincingly.

"You sure?"

Danny couldn't even begin to count how many times he'd been asked that in the past month. He could hardly turn around without stumbling into someone trying to offer a sympathetic word, and it had long since started to get on his nerves. "I said, I'm fine," Danny repeated, his eyebrows raised. Red was the last person to push an issue. Of all his other friends in the squadron, he'd known Red the longest--he'd started flight school at the same time as Danny and Rafe--and Danny didn't think he'd seen Red look so distracted and concerned before.

Red sighed. "Look, the guys and I--we're just c-c-c-concerned about you, that's all," he said. "You r-r-r-really haven't b-b-been yourself lately."

Danny looked at him, the skepticism apparently evident in his expression as Red started to look uncomfortable. Where was all of this coming from? "Okay, well..." Danny said carefully, his expression still wary. "You wanna go inside now?" Danny moved in the direction of the diner's entrance.

"Sure." Red followed him into the crowded, dimly lit restaurant and the two made their way over to their friends' table.

"Hey, it's about time you guys got here," Joe exclaimed when he spotted them approaching. "We have been waiting for at least an hour."

"It's only been twenty minutes, all right?" Danny corrected as he slid into the booth beside Gooz. "And you could have ordered anyway."

"Where's the hospitality in that?" Anthony said, reaching for one of the menus in the center of the table. "We wouldn't be treating you if we all ate before you got here."

Danny frowned. "And ... why are you treating me? Since when?" He looked around the table at his friends, who were all know pointedly avoiding his stare. "You guys ... okay, what's going on?"

Gooz looked nervously at the other guys before answering. "Nothing," he shrugged.

"Please don't tell me nothing's going on," Danny said, starting to get annoyed again. "I just got the same treatment from Red outside. I know you have ... something ... going on. Now what is it?"

None of his friends wanted to venture an answer, and Danny was getting tired of prodding them. The truth was, he knew exactly what they were up to, and Danny was sick of pretending. Pretending that he couldn't see right through them, pretending that they weren't trying to intervene with his recent depression over Rafe's death, pretending that he was just fine. Danny knew he wasn't fine, that trying to deal with his loneliness without anyone's help was only making it worse. But he couldn't talk to them. He didn't think there was anyone he could talk to about the way he was feeling, and he didn't want to try.

"Guys, thanks a lot, but I really don't need you gang up on me just to ask how I'm doing," Danny said, starting to sound outright angry. "If you want to know, just ask and I'll tell you."

"We weren't trying to gang up on you, really," Billy interjected.

"Come on, we're--" Anthony said.

"Because if you really want to know," Danny continued, "the answer is I'm fine. You didn't have to go to all this trouble." He started to get up. "And since I'm not hungry anyway, I guess I'll just see you guys later, all right?"

"Wait, hold on." Billy followed him to the door, blocking his exit. "I know it probably looks kind of weird the way it is, but we're all just ... we're worried about you."

"I know," Danny replied. "And you don't have to be. Because I'm fine."

"Do you really believe that?" Billy countered. "You just ... I don't know, haven't been yourself lately."

Danny stared at the faces of his friends for a long second. He couldn't stand it anymore. "Why is it so important to you guys for me to be all right?" he demanded, aware that a few other patrons were staring at him as well. "For me to just let it all out and get over it? Can you please just let me deal with it my own way?" The guys were speechless, shocked by the sudden outburst. "You want me to come right out and say it, okay--I'm not fine. In fact, I've been feeling like complete crap. You think you can help, but you have no idea what I've been going through these past few weeks. How many of you have lost your best friend?" He paused and glared at his friends, knowing that they weren't going to answer. "That's what I thought," he continued. "None of you really know how to deal with this, or how I'm feeling, so please, please just leave it alone? Can you do that?"

Billy looked back at the other guys, not knowing what to say. None of them did; they were all aghast. Danny had never shown even the slightest hint of a temper to anyone before, let alone to his friends. Billy shrugged helplessly and moved out of the way, allowing Danny to pass by. "Thank you," Danny said. "I'll see you later." He looked at his friends, who all wore repentant expressions on their faces. He pushed open the swinging glass door and without another backwards glance stepped back out into the warm afternoon sunshine, offering some light on his darkened disposition.

Billy walked dejectedly back to the table and sat back down with his friends. "Well, that went well," he said dryly.

"It was your idea," Anthony grumbled.

"What?!"

... ... ...

Danny paced up and down the street for a few minutes, berating himself for being so harsh with his friends. He knew they just wanted to help, and they weren't being intrusive about it--which was a tad surprising itself. They were usually a lot more direct and in-your-face about most things. But they were also a lot more perceptive than they let on, and Danny should have known that he couldn't fool them into believing that he was fine dealing with Rafe's death on his own. He just didn't want to have to admit it.

But that was no excuse to turn on them the way he just did. Danny sighed, turning left at another intersection, heading away from town. As he passed by the shops, a familiar face caught his attention in the corner of his eye. He stopped for a moment and peeked in the window of the dry-goods store.

It was Evelyn. She was at the store's counter waiting for the clerk to return with her purchases. She stood with her profile to the front of the store, and Danny realized she didn't notice him outside on the sidewalk watching her. He stared at her and noticed that despite the clerk's genial expression as he spoke, Evelyn's face was blank as she halfheartedly responded. He wasn't the only one in great pain, Danny realized. For a moment he thought about going into the store to talk to her. It had been so long since they'd spoken, as he'd gone out of his way to avoid having to cross paths with her. Now Danny thought maybe he'd been going about this all wrong. Maybe he and Evelyn should be comforting each other, instead of staying out of each other's way and ignoring each other. Maybe it would do them both good to speak to someone else who cared about Rafe and loved and missed him the same way. Just then Evelyn turned away from the counter and faced the front of the store. Danny ducked out of her eyeline just before she looked up at him, and he began walking down the sidewalk again to continue back to the airbase. He couldn't face her. It just hurt too much.

_Park - Pearl Harbor_

Evelyn sat stock still on the bench overlooking the grassy knoll, her journal resting untouched on her lap. Her friends had implored her to go out and get some fresh air, as she had been spending much of her afternoon off cooped up in her room. Evelyn had reluctantly agreed, mainly because she could hardly bear another minute alone with her tormented thoughts. She had gathered her things, deciding to take a trip to the nearby store to pick up some food for the house. On a whim, before she left she had retrieved her journal from its spot at the bottom of her night table drawer and carried it with her in her large satchel purse. Now she sat at the public park, her shopping bag on the grass beside her. She didn't want to go home just yet. She had planned to jot down a few musings--lighthearted, if she could manage it--when she got there, but as soon as she sat down on the wooden bench and looked out at the scenery, she felt hopelessly lost.

She sighed, watching two jaybirds circling around each other in the air just a few yards from her. It was amazing how life could be so fleeting, she thought. How one person's balance could be altered so dramatically, yet everything else remained unchanged. How long would she feel as though her heart had been hollowed out? Would she ever find her balance again? Evelyn turned her attention back to her journal and opened it slowly, the creaking in the binding a reminder of how infrequently she'd gotten the urge to write in recent weeks. Part of her wanted to put the journal away, not wanting to risk glimpsing at the older, happier, carefree entries she'd put it when everything in her life was perfect. But another part of her was dying to release some of the pain that continued to consume her. She couldn't talk to her friends, in spite of how compassionate she knew they would be. None of them had ever come close to feeling what was going through her mind and heart; they couldn't possibly understand what she was going through, and they couldn't begin to help.

Which was why she kept her journal. She had started keeping a log of her thoughts and certain events in her life after she left home for the Navy. After that last terrible fight with her parents, she was in desperate need to confide to someone, to something. She'd poured her heart out on these pages, and since then she'd always turned to it for comfort and liberation. Maybe if she wrote down something now, anything, it would make her feel better.

But the moment her pen touched the paper, she knew she couldn't write about Rafe. She didn't think she could ever write about him, ever again. And once more, the tears began to fall.

... ... ...

_So that was chapter seven, which you waited over a month for. :) I'm still doing some changes on the next couple of chapters so it might be a little while, but hopefully not nearly as long as this wait. At any rate, chapter 8 is entitled "Misery Loves Company," and we'll be seeing Danny and Evelyn's first attempts at healing from their pain. Thanks for reading!  
_


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